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YOUNG  PEOPLE'S 


HISTORY  OF   IRELAND 


BY 


GEORGE   MAKEPEACE   TOWLE 

AUTHOR  OF  "history    OF  ENGLAND,"  "HISTORY  OF  HENRY  V,"  "MODERN 

GREECE,"    "  MODERN    FRANCE,"    "  ENGLAND   AND    RUSSIA    IN 

ASIA,"   "  ENGLAND   IN   EGYPT,"   ETC.   ETC. 


BOSTON 
LEE    AND    SHEPARD,   PUBLISHF^o 


4^^'i^ 


Copyright,  1886, 
By  lee  and  SHEPARD. 


All  rights  reserved. 


INTRODUCTION. 


NOTHING  could  better  illustrate  the  deplorable  rela- 
tions of  England  and  Ireland,  than  the  complete 
absence  of  Irish  history  from  both  English  and  Irish  schools 
and  public  libraries.  So  far  as  English  posver  could  reach, 
Irish  history  ha?  been  obliterated,  misrepresented,  or  left 
unwritten.  The  English  story  of  Ireland  would  not  bear 
telling,  and  it  must  not  be  told. 

If  the  Irish  nation  were  an  unimportant,  uninteresting, 
unrelated  element,  the  students  of  English,  except  the  Irish 
themselves,  might  be  excused  for  ignoring  it.  But  this  is 
far  from  being  the  case.  In  the  unbroken  lines  of  nation- 
alities, there  are  few,  if  any,  longer  than  that  of  Ireland. 

By  ethnology,  philology,  geography,  history,  by  the  beauty 
and  wealth  of  the  country,  and  the  sentiment  and  character 
of  its  people,  Ireland  must  be  ranked  with  the  best-defined 
nationalities. 

To  justify  her  oppression,  England  has  resorted  to  a  sys- 
tem of  misrepresentation  and  misreport.  Irish  antiquities 
have  been  doubted  and  belittled.  The  natural  resources  of 
the  land  have  been  left  unused,  and  have  been  underrated. 

ill 


IV  INTRODUCTION. 

The  ancient  history  of  Ireland  has  been  set  down  as 
unreliable,  mythical,  —  a  story  bom  of  Celtic  pride,  imagi- 
nation, and  passion. 

Yet  the  student  who  turns  to  the  history  of  Ireland  finds 
at  a  glance  that  he  has  entered  an  original  and  authentic 
region,  on  a  study  not  only  national,  but  racial.  He 
finds  a  distinct  expression  of  architecture  in  the  archaic 
round  towers  and  other  Celtic  remains ;  of  law,  in  the 
revered  and  beautiful  Brehon  Code ;  of  music,  in  the  mar- 
vellously sweet  and  simple  strains  coming  down  from  pre- 
historic times,  and  still  sung  by  the  peasant  girls  and  played 
by  the  wandering  minstrels ;  of  decorative  art,  in  the 
fantastic  tracings  of  Gaelic  stones  and  manuscripts ;  of 
language  and  literature,  in  the  ancient  and  eloquent  Irish 
tongue,  which  is  as  complex  and  as  perfect  as  classic  Greek, 
and  as  old  as  primitive  Sanscrit ;  of  religion,  in  the  nature- 
worship  of  the  Magi  or  Druid,  with  its  Baaltane  cere- 
monies coming  clearly  down  to  the  time  of  St.  Patrick,  — 
a  comparatively  modern  period  in  Irish  history,  though 
separated  from  us  by  fourteen  centuries. 

Irish  history,  according  to  the  Englishman,  begins  only 
when  he  began  to  write  it ;  and  he  wrote  it  after  his  own 
knowledge  and  for  his  owti  purpose.  From  the  twelfth 
century,  the  period  covered  by  English  historians  after  their 
fashion,  the  history  of  Ireland  is  the  story  of  an  endless  fight, 
—  of  an  ancient  nation's  brave  struggle  to  keep  its  own  from 
the  hands  of  a  powerful  foreign  invader,  filled  with  personal 


INTRODUCTION.  V 

rapacity  and  an  ultimate  political  determination  to  make 
the  island  a  component  part  of  Great  Britain. 

To  follow  the  unbroken  Irish  line  through  all  these 
phases,  is  a  work  undertaken  by  numerous  historians  of 
other  nations.  It  is  a  hopeful  sign  to  see  the  task  under- 
taken by  competent  hands  in  America. 

The  Celtic  element  will  always  be  an  important  and  pro- 
gressive element  of  the  American  population.  The  history 
of  its  origin  and  development  is  a  proper  and  necessary 
study  in  every  American  school.  It  is  a  strange  fact,  that, 
up  to  the  present  time,  Irish  history  has  not  been  studied 
even  in  the  private  schools  of  the  Irish-American  element. 

From  the  so-called  "  national  schools "  of  Ireland,  the 
national  history  is  banished  as  a  crime.  The  original  and 
leading  purpose  of  those  schools  was  to  educate  the  people 
out  of  a  knowledge  of  their  own  national  history. 

It  is  not  too  sanguine  a  hope  that  we  have  now  seen  the 
beginning  of  attention  to  a  field  that  has  been  too  long 
neglected. 

JOHN    BOYLE   O'REILLY. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER 

I.  Irish  Legends  . 

II.  The  Ancient  Irish 

III.  Saint  Patrick  . 

IV.  Christian  Ireland  . 
V.  Early  Irish  Kings  . 

VI.  The  Invasion  of  the  Danes 

VII.  Condition  of  the  Irish  People 

VIII.  The  Invasion  of  the  NoRxMans 

IX.  The  English  Settlement  of  Ireland 

X.  The  Norman  Knights    . 

XL  The  Bruges  in  Ireland 

XII.  Richard  the  Second  in  Ireland 

XIII.  Condition  of  the  Irish  People  . 

XIV.  The  Irish  Parliament   . 
XV.  Henry  the  Eighth  and  Ireland 

XVL  Shane  O'Neil   .        .        .  '      . 

XVII.  Ireland  under  Elizabeth     . 

XVIII.  The  Revolt  of  Tyrone 

XIX.  The  Plantation  of  Ireland 

XX.  Condition  of  the  Irish  People  . 

XXI.  Wentworth's  Iron  Rule 

XXII.  The  Ten  Years'  Rebellion  . 

XXIII.  Cromwell's  Iron  Hand 

XXIV.  Cromwell's  Settlement  of  Ireland 
XXV.  The  Orange  and  the  Green 

XXVI.  The  Treaty  of  Limerick 

XXVII.  The  Penal  Laws     .... 

XXVIII.  Ireland  Prostrate 

XXIX.  Condition  of  the  Irish  People  . 

vii 


PAGE 
I 

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III 

120 
126 

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169 

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186 

194 

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21S 

222 


VIU 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER 

XXX.  The  Irish  Patriots 

XXXI.  The  Free  Parliament 

XXXII.  The  Insurrection  of  Ninety-eight 

XXXIII.  The  Union  of  the  Parliaments 

XXXIV.  Daniel  O'Connell 
XXXV.  The  Three  Years'  Famine 

XXXVI.  Later  Revolts 

XXXVII.  Gladstone's  Irish  Reforms 

XXXVIII.  The  Land  League 

XXXIX.  Gladstone  proposes  Home  Rule 


PAGB 
231 

252 
260 
267 

280 
287 

295 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  OF  IRELAND. 


CHAPTER    I. 

IRISH    LEGENDS. 

THE  trustworthy  history  of  Ireland  emerges  from 
a  long  period  of  dim  legend  and  of  vague  tradi- 
tions. We  know  nothing,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  of  the 
earliest  races  which  inhabited  the  island,  and  very 
little  of  the  successive  invasions,  which,  coming  from 
various  parts  of  the  world,  swept  over  and  The  island 
conquered  it.  Like  the  legends  of  most  °^  Fabie. 
other  long-settled  countries,  the  legends  of  Ireland 
abound  with  stories  of  heroism  and  romance,  of  the 
conflicts  of  giants,  of  the  presence  of  fairies,  sooth- 
sayers, and  magicians,  of  knightly  prowess,  chivalry, 
and  love.  The  ancient  Irish  bards,  whose  legendary 
tales,  like  those  of  the  bards  of  Wales,  have  to  some 
extent  been  preserved,  tell  of  wonderful  feats,  of 
mighty  wars,  of  kingly  rivalries,  and  of  rude,  bar- 
baric customs.  They  relate  how  one  Lady  Caesair 
reigned  in  Erin  before  the  Deluge ;  and  how,  after 
that  event,  Erin  was  ruled  by  Partholan,  a  near  de- 
scendant of  Japhet. 


YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


They  relate  how  this  Partholan  was  a  savage 
monster,  who  had  killed  his  father  and  mother  from 
greed  of  power ;  and  how  the  race  of  Partholan  was 
swept  from  the  earth,  to  the  last  man,  by  a  terrible 
pestilence.  After  Partholan's  colony,  Ireland  was 
occupied  by  the  Nemedhians,  so  called  from  their 
chief,  Nemedh,  who  came  from  the  borders  of  the 
Black  Sea.  Nemedh  is  said  to  have  built  forts,  and 
cleared  lands  in  the  island.  He  engaged  in  fierce 
wars  with  hordes  of  negro  sea-rovers,  who  came  from 
The  Formo-  Africa,  and  were  called  Formosians.  The 
sians.  Formosiaus,  who  were  the  third  race  to  in- 

vade Ireland,  at  last  overcame  the  Nemedhians,  and 
possessed  the  land.  The  Nemedhians  fled,  and  scat- 
tered to  different  parts  of  Europe.  A  little  later 
some  of  the  Nemedhians,  called  Firbolgs,  returned 
to  Ireland  under  five  brothers  as  their  chiefs,  dispos- 
sessed in  turn  the  Formosians,  and  divided  the 
island  into  five  kingdoms.  These  made  the  fourth 
conquest  of  Ireland. 

But  the  Firbolgs  were  not  allowed,  according  to 
the  legends,  to  remain  long  undisturbed.  Another 
The  Tuatha  branch  of  the  Nemedhian  race,  called  the 
de  Danans.  Tuatha  dc  Danaus,  were  the  next  conquer- 
ors. These  are  described  as  a  race  of  magicians  and 
warriors,  who  ,had  settled  in  Greece,  whence  they 
now  came  to  conquer  their  former  country.  In  the 
decisive  battle  which  was  fought  between  the  Fir- 
bolgs and  the  Tuatha,  the  Firbolg  king  was  killed, 
and  was  buried  on  the  shore  of  Sligo.     It  is  an  Irish 


IRISH    LEGENDS.  3 

tradition  that  his  grave  is  still  to  be  seen,  and  that  the 
waves  have  never  been  known  to  wash  over  it.  The 
king  of  the  Tuatha,  in  the  same  battle,  lost  his  right 
hand;  and,  as  his  subjects  would  not  have  a  ruler 
without  a  right  hand,  a  silver  hand  was  made  for  him 
by  one  of  his  skilled  artificers.  The  Tuatha,  the 
leo^ends  tell  us,  were  endowed  with  super-  „  .     , 

o  '  IT  Supernatural 

natural  powers.     They  could  work  many  powers  of 
wonders.     They  could  silence  the  furious 
winds.     They  could  heal  the  sick,  forge  metals,  cast 
magical  spells  over  their  enemies,  and   could  even 
restore  the  dead  to  life. 

The  Tuatha,  according  to  the  traditions,  held 
their  own  in  Ireland  through  a  long  period.  They 
were  often  unsuccessfully  assailed  by  the  fierce  black 
Formosians,  whom  the  Firbolgs  had  ousted.  But 
great  as  was  their  prowess,  the  Tuatha  also  were 
doomed  to  defeat  and  extinction.  The  various  races 
of  the  Nemedhians  are  believed  to  have  been  of  Tu- 
ranian origin,  and  to  have  originally  come  from  the 
interior  of  Africa.  But  now  Ireland  was  invaded  by 
a  very  different  race  of  men.  This  last  race  was 
clearly  of  Aryan  blood,  akin  to  the  other   ^ 

-^  -'  '  Aryan 

Aryan  races  who  swept  over  and  occupied  invasion  of 
nearly  the  whole  of  Europe.  The  Nemedh-  ^'^^^^"'^• 
ians  were  probably  small  of  stature,  and  dark  of 
complexion.  But  the  new  race  was  comprised  of 
men  who  were  robust,  tall,  and  fair.  The  particular 
branch  of  the  Aryans  which  found  its  way  to  Ireland 
is    variously  named    in   history  as  ''Gaels,"   "Mile- 


YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


sians,"  and  *'  Scots  ;  "  but  the  name  by  which  they 
are  most  commonly  known  is  that  of  the 

The  "Celts."  ,,  / 

"Celts."  They  invaded  Ireland  under 
the  lead  of  the  sons  of  Milesius,  who  had  some  time 
before  been  their  chief. 

The  Celts  came,  some  across  the  Irish  Sea  from 
Britain,  but  mostly  from  the  shores  of  Spain,  and 
are  believed  to  have  been  the  descendants  of  an 
Eastern  race  who  had  settled  in  those  lands. 
They  found  it  no  easy  task  to  overcome  the  Tuatha, 
who  clung  obstinately  to  their  island  realm.  The 
Tuatha  put  forth  all  their  power  of  sorcery  to 
Legends  of  rcpcl  and  destroy  the  invaders.  They 
the  Tuatha.  envclopcd  thc  Ccltic  ships  in  dense  fogs, 
the  legends  say ;  they  raised  terrific  storms  to  dash 
them  on  the  rocks  ;  they  summoned  ''  spirits  from 
the  vasty  deep "  to  bring  destruction  upon  them. 
But  at  last  the  Celtic  hordes  gained  a  foothold  on 
the  coast.  Gradually  they  drove  the  valiant  Tuatha 
into  the  gorges  of  the  hills,  and  finally  they  obtained 
sway  over  the  whole  island.  The  two  sons  of  Mile- 
sius, Heber  and  Heremon,  divided  their  conquest 
between  them.  But  in  course  of  time  Heber  over- 
came Heremon,  and  assumed  the  sole  sovereignty. 

For  a  very  long  period  the  Tuatha  continued  to 
harass  the  new  masters  of  Ireland.  But  after  a  while 
they  became  absorbed,  and  lost  their  distinctive 
Triumph  of  traits  ;  and  the  dominion  of  the  Celts  be- 
the  Celts.  came  complete.  The  Celtic  was  the  fifth 
and  last  successful  invasion  of  Ireland,  according  to 


IRISH    LEGENDS.  5 

the  ancient  traditions.  They  became  the  prevailing 
race  in  the  island  for  all  time.  It  was  they  who 
formed  the  character  of  the  Irish  as  a  people,  as  they 
have  always  been  since.  The  Irish  of  to-day  are 
overwhelmingly  Celtic  in  blood.  Their  language, 
customs,  and  traditions  are  to  be  traced  to  a  Celtic 
origin.  The  Celts  not  only  absorbed  the  Tuatha, 
and  the  remains  of  previous  races,  but  they  later 
absorbed  the  races  which  from  time  to  time  gained 
some  foothold  on  the  island  ;  just  as,  in  England,  the 
Saxons  first  replaced  the  Britons,  and  then  absorbed 
in  turn  the  Danes  and  the  Normans. 

How  long  the  Celts  had  populated  Ireland  before 
authentic  history  begins,  there  is  no  means  of  know- 
ing.    The  legends  tell  of  one  hundred  and  The  ceitic 
eighteen  kings,  ruling  in  succession  over  ^^^s^- 
their   turbulent    people,    and  engaging   in    frequent 
conflicts   to   maintain    themselves ;   of   rebellions  of 
royal  sons  against  their  fathers  ;  of  a  queen  named 
Meave,  who  was  the  daughter  of   a  fairy,  and  who 
lived  a  hundred  years,  and  was  continually  waging 
bloody  wars  ;  of  the  fair  Deirdri,  who,  by  ceitic  tradi- 
her    beauty,    brought    many   woes    upon  *'°'^^- 
Erin ;   of   the  fierce  race  of   Feni  and   their  chief, 
Finn,  surrounded  by  his  shaggy  warriors,  his  bards 
and  poets,  his  clowns  and  champions  ;  of  invasions 
by  Norman  sea-rovers,  who  were  driven  back  by  the 
valiant  Irish ;  of  the  loves  and  treacheries  of  princes, 
the  magic  spells  of  sorcerers,  and  the  terrible  feuds 
and  revenges  of  rival  chiefs. 


6  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

Whatever  credit  may  be  given  to  these  legendary 
tales,  it  seems  certain  that,  before  the  time  of  Christ, 
Ireland  had  good  harbors,  traded  with  the  busy  ports 
of  the  Mediterranean,  and  was  the  home  of  a  people 
brave  and  not  wholly  barbarous.  The  Irish,  with 
little  doubt,  were  strong  enough  at  times  to  attack 
the  Roman  stron2:holds  in  Britain  and  in  Gaul.  The 
Romans,  on  the  other  hand,  never  attempted  the  con- 
quest of  Ireland  ;  nor  was  Ireland  ever  conquered, 
after  its  settlement  by  the  Celts,  until,  many  centu- 
ries after  that  settlement,  it  was  subdued  by  English 
arms. 


THE    ANCIENT    IRISH. 


W 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE    ANCIENT    IRISH. 

«  /  E  can  only  guess,  from  the  dim  legends  which 
have  been  described,  what  may  have  been  the 
character,  institutions,  and  customs  of  the  successive 
races  who  preceded  the  Celts  in  the  occupation  of 
Ireland.  But  we  do  know  what  many  of  the  insti- 
tutions and  customs  of  the  Celts  were,  at  the  time 
that  authentic  history  finds  them  in  possession  of 
the  island.  Over  all  the  people  was  set  The"arch- 
the  "arch-king,"  whom  they  called  the  ^»"&-" 
**Ard-Righ."  The  successor  of  this  arch-king  was 
chosen  by  the  people  during  the  arch-king's  lifetime, 
and  was  called  the  "roydamna."  The  roydamna  was 
selected  from  the  arch-king's  family,  and  was  usually, 
though  by  no  means  always,  his  eldest  son.  There 
were  several  causes  for  which  a  prince  might  be 
excluded  from  the  throne.  One  of  these  was  physi- 
cal deformity.  A  prince  who  had  lost  a  hand,  who 
was  blind,  or  hump-backed,  could  not  succeed  to  the 
crown.  If,  after  his  accession,  the  arch-king  became 
in  any  way  deformed,  he  was  deposed. 

Under  the  arch-king  were  a  number  of  princes  or 


8  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

chiefs,  who  divided  the  government  of  the  various 
Early  Irish  parts  of  the  island  between  them.  These 
chiefs.  were    called    ''righ,"    or   "kings."     Their 

successors,  like  those  of  the  arch-kings,  v/ere  elected 
by  the  people  from  their  families,  and  were  called 
"tanists."  One  and  ail  of  these  *' risrh  "  were  sub- 
ject  to  the  arch-king's  authority.  The  provinces 
ruled  over  by  the  righ  were  again  sub-divided  into 
tribes  or  clans,  which  the  Irish  called  "septs." 
Each  sept  comprised  a  group  of  families, 
living  in  the  same  neighborhood  ;  and  each 
sept  had  its  popularly  elected  chief.  So,  too,  each 
family  included  in  the  sept  had  its  chief  or  head,  who 
owed  allegiance  to  the  chief  of  the  sept.  Under 
him,  however,  the  head  of  the  family  had  absolute 
power  over  its  several  members.  Each  tribe  had  its 
established  domain,  which  its  members  cultivated, 
and  upon  which  it  dwelt.  This  domain  was  divided 
up,  and  its  various  portions  were  devoted  to  certain 
purposes.  A  part  of  it  was  used  by  all  the  members 
of  the  tribe  in  common,  who  cultivated  it,  pastured 
their  horses,  pigs,  sheep,  and  cows  upon  it,  and  took 
their  fuel  from  it.  Another  part  served  for  the 
The  tribal  habitations  of  the  tribe,  and  yet  a  third 
domain.         p^j.^  ^^g  provided  for  the  use  or  pleasure 

of  the  chief.  A  portion  of  the  tribal  domain,  more- 
over, was  occupied  by  nobles,  who  had  secured  it  by 
their  prowess,  or  by  services  to  the  tribe  or  king. 

There  was  no  such  thing  among  the  ancient  Irish 
as  a  law  of  primogeniture ;  that  is,  a  law,  such  as 


THE    ANCIENT    IRISH.  9 

long  prevailed  among  the  English,  which  provided 
that  the  eldest  son  of  a  family  should  inherit  all  the 
lands  of  his  father.  When  an  Irishman  died,  all  his 
sons  took  an  equal  share  of  the  lands  he  left.  This 
was  called  the  custom  of  ''gavelkind."     If 

r         .,        ,  .  ...  Gavelkind. 

a  tamily  became  extmct,  its  lands  were 
taken  by  the  tribe,  and  redivided.  But  little  cultivat- 
ing of  the  land  was  done  by  the  ancient  Irish.  Their 
main  source  of  support  was  cattle ;  and,  among  cat- 
tle, cows  were  raised  to  the  largest  extent.  Indeed, 
the  cow  played  a  curious  part  in  the  laws  and  busi- 
ness relations  of  the  Irish.  If  a  man  was  fined  for 
breaking  the  laws,  he  was  condemned  to  pay  over  so 
many  cows.  Land,  too,  was  measured  ac-  cows  as  cur- 
cording  to  its  capacity  to  feed  a  greater  or  ""^"^7. 
less  number  of  cows.  The  Irish  also  raised  a  great 
many  pigs,  and  some  horses  and  sheep. 

The  ancient  Irish  usually  dwelt  in  small  clusters 
of  dwellings,  which  were  commonly  built  either  upon 
the  islands  of  the  lakes,  or  upon  hills.  Around  the 
settlement  was  erected  a  thick  wall  of  earth  and 
stone,  for  purposes  of  defence ;  and  a  fort  was  also 
constructed  in  the  centre  of  the  settlement,  in  which 
the  chief  of  the  sept  lived.  Sometimes  these  de- 
fences were  of  great  strength,  the  walls  being  twelve 
or  fourteen  feet  thick.  The  huts  them-  The  Irish 
selves  were  built  of  wood  or  wattles,  fifteen  ^"^^• 
or  twenty  feet  long ;  while  the  chiefs  had  much 
larger  dwellings,  some  of  which  were  built  with 
no  little  skill  and  knowledge  of  architecture.     The 


I.O  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

ancient  Irish  appear  to  have  had  a  rude  system  of 
writing,  by  making  notches  in  wood,  and  sometimes 
in  stone.  At  a  very  early  period,  too,  they  sent  their 
native  ores,  and  sold  slaves,  to  the  seaport  towns  of 
the  Mediterranean.     They  are  also  known 

Irish  skill  in  "^  , 

mechanic  to  havc  had  much  skill  in  the  making  of 
^^^^'  weapons,  and  in  the  working  of  precious 

metals.  These  arts  they  perhaps  derived  from  their 
Oriental  ancestors. 

Some  of  the  laws  of  the  ancient  Irish  have  hap- 
pily come  down  to  us,  and  present  a  curious  view 
of  their  ideas  and  customs.  They  do  not  seem 
to  have  made  any  clear  distinction  between  what  we 
call  crimes,  and  what  we  look  upon  merely  as  civil 
Ancient  Irish  iujurics.  Whether  a  man  committed  a 
laws.  theft,  or  an  assault,  or  only  a  trespass  upon 

land,  his  punishment  was  a  fine,  to  be  paid  in  cows. 
If  the  criminal  could  not  pay  his  fine,  it  was  paid  by 
his  family ;  and,  when  this  was  the  case,  the  criminal 
lost  his  civil  rights,  and  his  share  in  the  common 
land.  Fines  were  imposed  for  injuries  to  women, 
theft,  murder,  receiving  stolen  goods,  and  swindling, 
which  we  call  crimes  ;  and  also  for  trespass,  slander, 
negligence,  and  the  failure  to  pay  debts,  which  we 
regard,  less  seriously,  as  civil  wrongs.  In  one  re- 
spect, the  ancient  Irish  laws  were  much  in  advance 
of  those  of  most  primitive  peoples.  The  husband 
Husband  and  wifc  wcrc  put  on  a  footing  of  perfect 
and  wife.  equality  as  to  their  rights  in  the  land. 
The  wife  had  as   much   to  say,  in   the    disposal   of 


THE    ANCIENT    IRISH.  II 

the  land,  as  her  husband.  The  old  Irish  laws,  more- 
over, commanded  the  people  to  receive  hospitably  all 
comers.  They  also  made  rules  as  to  the  clothing 
which  each  social  rank  should  wear. 

The  religion  of  the  ancient  Irish,  like  that  of  the 
ancient  Britons  and  Gauls,  was  that  known  to  us  as 
Druidism,  and  was  no  doubt  derived  from  the  East. 
The  priests  of  this  religion  were  called  Druids,  and 
the  worship  of   fire  was  one  of  its   main 

^  .  The  Druids. 

features.  The  Druids  were  "  priests  of  the 
sun."  There  is  some  reason  to  believe  that,  in  the 
groves  where  they  conducted  the  rites  of  their  faith, 
they  were  in  the  habit  of  offering  up  sacrifices  of 
men  and  women,  on  great  stone  altars  erected  for 
the  purpose.  The  chief  god  was  Crom,  who  was 
called  the  god  of  fire.  There  were  also  other  gods, 
who  were  the  special  deities  of  the  bards,  the  cham- 
pions, the  sailors,  and  the  workers  in  metal.  Groves 
were  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  these  gods,  which 
was  conducted  in  the  open  air.  As  for  the  Druids 
themselves,  both  the  priests  and  the  priestesses,  they 
were  held  sacred,  and  revered  above  all  others  among 
the  ancient  Irish.  On  all  public  occasions,  they  held 
the  place  of  honor  near  the  king.  They  Honors  to 
consecrated  the  weapons  of  the  warriors  ;  *^^  Drmds. 
they  dictated  whether  there  should  be  peace  or  war ; 
the  best  products  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  artificers, 
were  devoted  to  their  use. 

All  the  principal  officers  of  the  Irish  realm  were 
chosen  from  among  the  Druids.     The  chief  of  these 


12  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND, 


officers  were  the  priests,  who  served  at  the  altars ; 
the  Brehons,  who  were  men  of  learning,  and  by  their 
wisdom  settled  all  quarrels  and  disputes,  and  inter- 
The  Brehons  preted  and  executed  the  laws  ;  and  the 
and  Bards.  Bards,  whose  task  it  was  to  write  the  his- 
tories of  events,  and  to  sing  the  exploits  of  princes. 
Below  these  three  higher  officers,  were  the  royal  doc- 
tors, stewards,  knights  or  champions,  and  the  armor- 
ers. The  farmers  were  an  inferior  rank  ;  and  the 
millers,  weavers,  shepherds,  and  farm-laborers  were, 
for  the  most  part,  slaves,  who  had  been  captured  in 
war,  or  had  been  bought  from  the  Britons.  In  vari- 
ous parts  of  Ireland  are  to  be  seen  strange  round 
towers,  the  origin  and  use  of  which  can  only  be  con- 
The  round  jccturcd.  It  is  believed  by  some  writers 
towers.  ^1^^^    they  were    erected    by   the    Druids. 

Others  think  that  they  were  built  by  petty  chiefs  of 
clans,  who  formed  a  special  rank,  or  caste,  among  the 
early  Irish. 

It  was  in  ancient  times,  too, — though  how  ancient, 
no  one  knows,  —  that  Ireland  was  divided  into  the 
four  great  provinces  which  still  retain  their  bounda- 
ries and  names.  Indeed,  there  was  of  old,  in  eastern 
Ireland,  a  fifth  province,  called  Meath.  This  prov- 
ince was  the  domain  of  the  arch-king,  where  he 
The  royal  had  his  residcncc  and  held  his  court.  Its 
domain.  peoplc  wcrc  frcc  from  all  taxation  except 
such  as  was  imposed  by  the  sovereign.  It  held  a  sort 
of  neutral  position  among  the  other  provinces,  and 
was  endowed  with  special  privileges.      Its  territory 


THE    ANCIENT    IRISH.  I3 

is  now  included  in  the  two  counties  of  Meath  and 
Westmeath.  The  four  other  provinces  —  Ulster, 
Leinster,  Connaught,  and  Munster  —  had,  geographi- 
cally, very  much  the  same  boundaries  that  they  have 
to-day.  Such,  in  brief,  was  the  pagan  Ireland,  which, 
in  the  first  half  of  the  fifth  century,  the  famous  St. 
Patrick  came  to  win  from  its  idolatries,  and  convert 
to  Christianity. 


14  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER   III. 

SAINT    PATRICK. 

SAINT  PATRICK  is  the  first  great  and  distinct 
figure  in  the  authentic  history  of  Ireland.  The 
story  of  his  life  is  interesting ;  and  the  results  of  the 
good  work  that  he  did,  in  bringing  the  entire  Irish 
people  within  the  civilizing  fold  of  Christianity,  re- 
mained for  ages  after  he  himself  had  been  laid  in  the 
St.  Patrick  in  gravc.  Patrick  was  a  Gaul,  and  was  born 
^^"^-  and  brought  up  in  the  seaside  town  which 

we  now  call  Boulogne,  in  France.  There  he  was 
born,  probably  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century 
(400).  His  father  was  a  well-to-do  citizen,  and  Pat- 
rick was  no  doubt  fairly  educated  in  his  boyhood.  But 
when  he  was  sixteen  years  old,  his  country  was  in- 
vaded by  the  warlike  Irish  king  Nial.  Patrick  him- 
self was  captured,  carried  over  to  Ireland,  and,  as 
befell  all  prisoners  of  war  in  those  rude  days,  was  sold 
into  slavery.  His  master  was  a  great  Irish  chief 
St.  Patrick  a  named  Milcho,  in  the  county  of  Antrim, 
slave.  During  the  seven  years  that  he  was  a  slave, 

Patrick  tended  his  master's  sheep  on  the  Antrim 
hills. 


SAINT    PATRICK.  I5 

When  Patrick  was  twenty-three,  he  succeeded  in 
making  his  escape.  He  ran  away,  hid  himself  in  a 
vessel,  and  thus  got  safely  back  to  Gaul.  He  now 
became  a  Christian  priest,  and  was  soon  known  for 
the  fervor  with  which  he  performed  the  duties  of  his 
sacred  office.  He  resided  for  a  while  at  Tours,  and 
then  repaired  to  Rome,  where  he  rose  high  Life  at 
in  favor  at  the  Papal  court.  All  the  while,  ^°"^^- 
his  mind  was  filled  with  thoughts  of  the  pagan  land 
where  he  had  spent  his  youth  in  servitude.  He  re- 
membered with  horror  the  hideous  rites  of  wliich  he 
had  been  a  witness,  —  the  cruel  human  sacrifices,  the 
idolatrous  worship  of  the  sun  and  of  fire,  the  severity 
of  the  rule  of  the  Druids,  and  the  ignorance  and 
abasement  of  the  people.  His  heart  longed  to  raise 
them  out  of  their  degraded  condition,  and  to  bring 
them  into  the  light  of  the  Christian  faith.  As  he 
dwelt  continually  upon  these  thoughts,  he  began  to 
be  visited  by  strange  dreams,  and  then  by  start- 
ling visions.  It  seemed  to  him  as  if  God  were  thus 
commanding  him  to  leave  his  work  in  Rome,  to  go 
and  convert  the  Irish. 

At  last  he  had  a  vision  which  decided  him.  He 
thought  that  an  angel  came  to  him  in  his  dreams, 
holding  a  scroll  on  which  was  plainly  writ-  -*  t,  *  •  , 

o  r  J  St.  Patiick 

ten,   "The  voice   of   the  Irish."     At  the  goes  to 
same  time,  he  seemed  to  hear  the  wailing 
and  groans  of  the  benighted  people.     Despite  all  the 
dangers  which  threatened  him,  Patrick  finally  resolved 
to  go  and  preach  in  the  land  of  his  former  captivity. 


l6  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

He  made  known  his  resolution  to  Pope  Celestine, 
who  gave  him  authority  to  convert  the  Irish.  More 
than  twenty  years  had  elapsed  since  his  escape  from 
slavery.  Patrick  was  now  a  middle-aged  man,  robust 
of  frame,  brave  of  heart,  and  fervid  of  spirit.  It  is 
not  known  in  what  year  he  arrived,  with  a  few  fellow- 
priests,  off  the  Irish  coast  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  it 
was  in  the  first  half  of  the  fifth  century.  He  at- 
tempted to  land  on  the  shores  of  Wicklow,  on  the 
eastern  coast,  south  of  the  spot  where  Dublin  now 
stands.  But  the  fierce  Irish  had  heard  of  his  coming, 
and  assailed  his  vessel  from  the  shore  with  a  storm 
of  missiles. 

He  then  sailed  northward,  and  succeeded  in  land- 
ing on  the  coast  of  Antrim,  the  county  in  which  he 
St  Patrick  ^^^  lived  as  a  slave.  With  his  little  group 
lands  in  of  missionaries,  Patrick  began  his  preach- 
'^*"'"*  ing  at  a  place  called  Saul.  He  held  his 
meetings  in  a  barn,  where  he  caused  a  rude  altar  to 
be  erected,  and  where  he  exhorted  the  natives  who 
could  be  induced  to  enter,  to  abandon  Druidism  and 
embrace  Christianity.  But  Patrick's  zeal  outstripped 
the  first  results  of  his  mission.  He  was  impatient  to 
make  conversions  on  a  wider  field,  and  on  a  larger 
scale.  So  he  bravely  resolved  to  appear  before  the 
arch-king  Leoghaire  himself,  surrounded  though  he 
might  be  by  his  warriors  and  priests.  So  sure  was 
Patrick  of  the  truth  of  his  teaching,  and  so  ardent 
was  he  in  its  cause,  that  he  did  not  despair  of  suc- 
cess, even  in  such  a  presence. 


SAINT    PATRICK.  I7 

It  happened  that  the  arch-king  was  about  to  hold 
a  joyous  festival  in  honor  of  his  birthday,  on  the 
royal  hill  of  Tara.  There  would  be  a  vast  gathering 
of  princes,  champions,  priests,  and  bards  The  feast  on 
from  every  part  of  the  island ;  and  the  '^^'■*- 
historic  hill  would  swarm  with  the  fierce  soldiery  of 
the  barbaric  court.  There  would  be  solemn  religious 
rites,  attended  by  ghastly  human  sacrifices.  This 
celebration  was  to  take  place,  Patrick  learned,  on  the 
day  before  Easter.  Inspired  by  a  bold  resolve,  Pat- 
rick bade  adieu  to  his  little  flock  at  Saul,  embarked 
on  his  ship,  and  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Boyne. 
From  thence  he  proceeded  directly  across  the  great 
plain  that  spreads  out  between  the  Boyne  and  the 
hill  of  Tara.  He  was  only  attended  by  a  few  Irish- 
men, whom  he  had  recently  converted.  He  staid 
one  night  at  the  house  of  a  kindly  chief,  whom,  with 
all  his  family,  Patrick  persuaded  to  accept  the  Chris- 
tian faith.  On  the  third  day  of  his  journey,  the 
Saint  beheld,  in  the  distance,  the  edifices  and  lofty 
trees  which  crowned  the  royal  eminence.  Above 
them  all  rose  the  king's  palace  and  his  banqueting- 
hall,  now  decorated  for  the  birthday  festival. 

But  no  fires  were  lit  on  the  massive  Druid  altars 
on  the  hill,  nor  anywhere  in  the  country  roundabout. 
For  the  arch-priest  had  ordained  that,  at  g^  Patrick 
a  given  moment,  they  should  all  be  lit  in   before  the 
honor  of  the  monarch.     Patrick,  however,   ^^^  "^*"^' 
deliberately  disobeyed    this    command.     He    lit    his 
fire  before  his  camp,  on  the    slope  opposite   Tara. 


1 8  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

No  sooner  did  the  pagan  hosts  perceive  what  they 
regarded  as  an  act  of  audacious  treason  and  sacrilege, 
than  they  rushed  over  to  Patrick's  camp,  seized  him 
and  his  companions,  and  dragged  them  into  the  pres- 
ence of  the  arch-king  and  his  courtiers  and  priests, 
who  were  gathered  in  a  large  open  space.  Patrick  re- 
mained undaunted  in  the  midst  of  his  angry  enemies. 
One  of  the  chiefs,  acting  according  to  the  polite  cus- 
tom of  the  Irish,  offered  him  a  seat ;  and  he  sat  down. 
Then  he  was  commanded  to  say  why  he  had  commit- 
ted such  an  outrage  against  the  religion  of  the  land. 
Patrick  felt  that  his  opportunity  had  come.  In- 
spired rather  than  frightened  by  the  scene,  by  the 
historic  spot  on  which  he  stood,  and  by  the  multitude 
of  fierce  and  glowering  faces  which  surrounded  him, 
St  Patrick  ^^  nerved  himself  for  a  supreme  effort  of 
preaches  to  cloqucnce.  He  spent  but  a  few  words  in 
the  Druids,  j^g^ifying  his  act  of  lighting  the  fire. 
Soon,  he  was  boldly  showing  the  barbaric  concourse 
the  cruelty,  the  falsity,  and  the  absurdity  of  their 
faith.  They  listened  in  spellbound  wonder.  Then, 
with  all  the  fervor  of  his  soul,  he  told  them  the  story 
of  Christ ;  of  his  miracles  ;  the  wise,  good,  humane, 
lessons  which  he  taught ;  and  the  church  which  he 
had  founded  on  the  earth.  Rude  as  were  the  spirits 
he  addressed,  the  minds  and  hearts  of  many  of  them 
were  touched  by  his  glowing  words.  Their  wrath 
subsided.  They  looked  at  each  other,  and  murmured. 
When  Patrick  had  finished,  a  hubbub  of  confused 
voices  arose. 


SAINT    PATRICK.  I9 

Forthwith  nobles,  priests,  and  warriors  began  to 
argue  eagerly  with  each  other.  Some  boldly  took 
the  part  of  the  Christian  ;  others  hotly  opposed  him ; 
many   wavered    in    their   faith.      Then    a  ^ 

-^  ^  Conversions 

wonderful    thing   happened.     The  daugh-  to  chns- 
ters  of  the  arch-king  Leoghaire  declared   ^'^"'^^ 
themselves    converted.      Several    great    princes  and 
chiefs  followed    their  example.     At   last,   the  arch- 
Druid  himself,  the  head  of  the  entire  pagan  church 
of  Ireland,  embraced  the  new  faith.      Patrick  has- 
tened to  baptize  his   new  converts  ;    and    presently 
great  numbers  of  the  chief  men  of  Ireland,  includ- 
ing many  Druid   priests,  came  to   the  baptism,  and 
were  thus  received  into  the  Christian  church.     The 
arch-king,  though    he  did    not  receive  Christianity, 
shielded  Patrick   from  violence,   put   him  g^  Patrick 
under  his  own   protection,   and    assigned  held  in 
the  Saint  the  castle  of  Trim,  not  far  dis- 
tant from   Tara,  as  his  residence.     Thither  Patrick 
repaired,  to  continue  without  ceasing  the  great  and 
good  work  which  he  had  undertaken,  and  which  had 
been  so  auspiciously  begun. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  Druidism,  with  its  long  hold 
upon  the  Irish,  died  hard.  For  many  years,  Patrick's 
struggles  against  it  were  bitter  and  constant.  Plots 
were  concocted  by  Druid  priests  to  murder  him  as 
he  journeyed  in  lonely  places.  The  priests  denounced 
him  from  their  altars,  and  made  sport  of  his  actions. 
The  bards  took  up  the  cause  of  the  old  faith,  and 
poured  out  songs  of  indignation.     Some  of  the  chiefs 


20  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

forbade  him  their  territories.  But  Patrick  gradually 
won  over  a  host  of  ardent  Irish  disciples.  His  con- 
verts constantly  increased  ;  and  his  influence  spread 
from  Tara  to  Armagh  in  the  north,  and  to  Cashel  in 
the  south.  Then  the  Druids  sought  refuge  in  the 
forests,  and  in  the  islands  off  the  coast,  where  they 
could  still  perform  their  pagan  rites  unmolested.  As 
^.  .  ^.  fast  as  he  had  converted  a  district,  Patrick 

missions  in  established  missions  in  it,  caused  monas- 
teries to  be  erected,  and  left  native  priests 
to  conduct  the  church  services,  and  to  continue  his 
work.  He  himself  went  continually  from  place  to 
place,  visiting  these  missions  ;  and  in  the  later  years 
of  his  life,  although  he  usually  journeyed  on  foot, 
he  was  attended  by  a  numerous  retinue.  In  this 
retinue  were  bell-ringers,  chamberlains,  cooks,  work- 
ers in  metals,  brewers,  smiths,  and  embroiderers,  as 
well  as  priests  and  monks. 

Patrick  did  not  lay  violent  hands  on  the  ancient 
customs  of  the  Irish.  So  far  as  he  could  consist- 
ently with  his  sacred  mission,  he  left  the  traditions 
of  the  people  untouched.  He  kept  the  pagan  holi- 
changes  in  days  as  Christian  holidays.  But  he  re- 
ireiand.  formed  the  old  laws,  making  them  more 

enlightened  and  humane,  and  removing  from  them 
every  thing  which  recognized  or  protected  the  Druid 
faith.  He  led  the  Irish  gently,  and  by  gradual  steps, 
to  a  higher  social  as  well  as  religious  state.  Patrick 
undoubtedly  lived  to  a  very  advanced  age.  He  was 
probably  over   ninety,   when,    in   the   monastery  of 


SAINT    PATRICK.  21 

Saul,  erected  on  the  very  spot  where  the  old  barn 
in  which  he  had  first  preached  in  Ireland  stood,  he 
quietly  passed  away.  He  had  done  a  vast  and  noble 
work ;  and  his  last  hours  were  gladdened  with  a  holy 
joy,  at  the  thought  that  he  had  led  a  whole  nation 
into  the  Christian  fold.  He  was  laid,  with  all  pomp 
and  reverence,  in  the  church  at  Armagh,  and  has 
ever  since  been  revered  by  the  Irish  as  their  great 
apostle.  To  this  day  they  celebrate  the  supposed 
anniversary  of  his  death  as  their  principal  national 
holiday. 


22  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

CHRISTIAN    JRELAND. 

THE  good  work  of  St.  Patrick  was  vigorously 
continued,  after  his  death,  by  his  disciples  and 
successors.  In  the  course  of  time  Ireland  was 
Progress  of  dottcd  with  churchcs,  monasteries,  and 
Christianity,  gdiools.  Picccs  of  land  wcre  set  apart 
by  the  various  tribes  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
religious  establishments  ;  and  this  land  remained  in 
their  possession.  The  abbot  of  a  monastery  became 
a  sort  of  lord  of  the  manor,  to  whom  his  tenants 
owed  fealty ;  and,  as  in  the  case  of  the  chiefs  of 
tribes,  the  successor  of  the  abbot,  who  was  called 
the  **co-arb,"  was  chosen,  during  the  abbot's  life- 
time, by  the  monks  and  the  men  of  the  tribe.  Each 
monastery  had  attached  to  it,  moreover,  a  number  of 
smaller  missions,  scattered  here  and  there,  over  which 
it  had  control,  and  which  paid  tribute  to  it 

The  bishops.  .  , 

for  its  support.  Bishops,  moreover,  were 
set  over  the  different  sees.  For  a  long  time,  how- 
ever, the  bishops  were  inferior  in  authority  to  the 
abbots  of  the  monasteries. 

For  two  centuries  after  the  death  of  St.  Patrick,  the 


CHRISTIAN    IRELAND.  23 

piety  and  learning  of  Ireland  were  renowned  through- 
out Europe.  The  Irish  monks  went  forth  into  Britain, 
Gaul,  and  Germany,  to  convert  the  heathen  of  those 
countries.  Ireland  came  to  be  known  everywhere 
as  *'the  Isle  of  Saints."  The  monks  founded 
monasteries  and  schools  wherever  they  went.  They 
preached  before  the  great  Charlemagne,  and  were 
celebrated,  even  in  Rome  itself,  for  their  scholarship 
no  less  than  for  their  religious  fervor.  There 
was  a  long  period,  indeed,  when  Ireland  was  the 
foremost  nation  in  Europe,  in  learning  and  religious 
teaching ;  when,  from  all  parts  of  Europe,  students 
flocked  in  hundreds  to  fill  her  schools  to  overflowing, 
and  to  learn  theology  and  the  arts  in  her  monasteries 
and  convents.  As  early  as  in  the  sixth  century, 
there  were  famous  schools  at  Armagh  and  colleges  and 
Belfast,  at  Clonard  and  Wexford,  at  Mun-  schools, 
gret  and  Mayo.  At  some  of  these  schools  were 
gathered,  at  times,  as  many  as  five  or  six  thousand 
students.  The  students,  too,  were  of  many  races,  — 
Saxons,  Gauls,  Picts,  and  Franks,  as  well  as  Irish. 

These  great  schools  were,  for  the  most  part,  free 
to  all ;  not  only  free  in  their  instruction,  but  free  in 
giving  board  and  lodging  to  the  students.  The 
tribes  granted  them  lands,  rights  of  fishery,  and  mill 
privileges  ;  and  they  were  allowed  to  cut  as  much 
wood  for  timber  and  fuel  as  they  needed.    ^        ^  , 

J  Support  of 

The  monks  went  about  the  country  ask-   educational 

ing    for  funds    by  which    to    support    the 

schools  ;  and  often  princes,  nobles,  and  large-hearted 


YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


rich  women  gave  them  generous  endowments.  The 
edifices  of  the  great  schools  were  built  in  blocks, 
and  formed  the  streets  of  a  special  quarter  of  the 
town  in  which  they  were  situated.  They  were  gener- 
ally erected  on  the  banks  of  a  river  or  a  lake,  and 
were,  for  the  most  part,  wooden  buildings  with  shin- 
gle roofs,  and  were  spacious  in  size.  The  students 
went  forth  from  these  schools,  to  spread  learning 
and  the  Christian  faith  through  the  most  benighted 
regions  of  northern  and  western  Europe,  and  to  es- 
tablish the  fame  of  Ireland  as  the  intellectual  centre 
of  the  world. 

The  studies  pursued  at  these  schools  give  a  strik- 
ing idea  of  the  height  to  which  Irish  scholarship  had 
The  Irish  attained  while  Britain  was  still  in  a  state 
students.  q£  ^Imost  barbaric  ignorance.  The  Irish 
students  were  taught  not  only  their  own  tongue  and 
Latin,  which  was,  as  it  still  is,  the  language  of  the 
church  ;  but  they  also  learned  Greek,  Hebrew,  and 
the  writings  of  the  Greek  and  Christian  philosophers. 
They  studied  physics,  mathematics,  and  poetry,  and 
were  carefully  practised  in  music.  Neither  paper 
nor  printing  had  been  invented ;  and  the  books  used 
in  the  Irish  schools  were  all  written  by  monkish 
hands  on  vellum,  or  parchment.  But  few  such  books 
could  have  been  possessed  by  the  schools.  It  is 
probable  that  the  teachers  read  from  them,  and  ex- 
pounded the  text  by  lectures.  By  far  the  greater 
number  of  the  students  were  educated  to  enter 
the    priesthood  ;    so    that    a    deep    religious    spirit 


CHRISTIAN    IRELAND.  25 

pervaded  the  studies,  habits,  and   influences  of  the 
schools. 

At  the  same  time,  scholarship,  science,  and  the 
arts,  as  well  as  religion,  were  ardently  pursued  in  the 
tranquil  cells  and  cloisters  of  the  many  monasteries 
which  were  now  thickly  scattered  through  Ireland. 
The  monks,  besides  pursuing  their  religious  vigils, 
did  a  great  deal  of  worldly  work.  They  tilled  the 
fertile  lands  attached  to  the  monasteries  ;  they  tended 
their  cows,  sheep,  and  pigs  ;  they  acted  as  The  labor  of 
scribes  for  those  who  could  not  write ;  they  *^^  monks, 
worked  in  wood  and  in  the  metals.  They  made  with 
their  own  hands  the  various  ornaments  which  adorned 
the  sanctuaries,  and  wrote  and  illuminated  the  missals 
used  in  pious  services.  They  were  skilful  in  archi- 
tecture, built  their  own  edifices  and  churches,  and 
devoted  themselves  with  special  ardor  to  music. 
It  is  an  ancient  Irish  proverb,  that  "it  is  a  poor 
church  that  has  no  music."  The  Irish  churches, 
even  in  that  distant  age,  were  famous  for  their  well- 
drilled  choirs,  their  stirring  hymns,  and  their  instru- 
mental as  well  as  vocal  harmonies. 

Ireland  produced  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  centu- 
ries a  multitude  of  holy  men,  who  received  the  name 
of  "  saints,"  and  were  renowned  through  irish 
Europe  for  their  piety  and  learning.  They 
had  a  great  influence  over  the  public  affairs,  not  only 
of  Ireland,  but  of  other  countries.  They  sometimes 
founded  Irish  and  Christian  colonies  on  foreign  soil. 
The    most    notable    instance    of   this,   perhaps,    was 


mis- 
sionaries. 


26  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

the  founding  of  an  Irish  colony  on  the  island  of 
lona,  off  the  western  coast  of  Scotland.  There  is 
little  doubt  that  many  of  the  people  of  the  Scottish 
Highlands  were  descended  from  Irish  colonists,  who 
had  established  themselves  in  that  country  long  be- 
fore St.  Patrick's  time.  There  are  traces,  indeed,  of 
Invasions  of  Irish  iuvasions  of  Scotland,  as  far  back  as 
Scotland.  ^\^q  middle  of  the  third  century.  A  large 
and  prosperous  Irish  settlement  had  been  made  at 
the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century  (503),  in  Argyle, 
Rosshire,  and  Perth.  But  the  first  systematic  at- 
tempt to  bring  about  the  conversion  of  the  Scottish 
pagans,  was  that  made  in  the  middle  of  the  sixth 
century  by  the  famous  St.  Columbkill,  who  founded 
the  colony  on  the  island  of  lona  (565). 

Next  to  St.  Patrick  himself,  Columbkill  was  the 

most  conspicuous  Irish  figure  in  those  early  centuries. 

He  was  of  royal  blood,  a  bishop  of  the 

Columbkill.  ■'  , 

church,  and  an  accomplished  scholar.  His 
temper  was  sweet  and  saint-like.  He  had,  moreover, 
a  burning  religious  zeal,  rare  courage,  poetic  talent, 
and  a  gift  of  glowing  eloquence.  With  twelve  priests, 
he  repaired  to  lona,  and  built  a  large  monastery.  He 
then  set  out  upon  his  task  of  conversion.  Columb- 
kill went  among  the  barbarous  people  in  the  islands 
of  the  Hebrides  and  the  Orkneys,  through  the 
mountains  of  Argyle  into  northern  Britain,  and  even 
Conversion  to  thc  southcmmost  parts  of  the  island, 
of  the  Scots.  ;^jjg  success  during  his  long  mission  of 
thirty-one  years  was  wonderful.     The  Pict  king  was 


Death  of  Columbkill.  —  Page  27. 


CHRISTIAN    IRELAND.  2/ 

baptized  by  him,  and  the  lesser  Scottish  sovereigns 
received  his  benediction  when  they  assumed  their 
sceptres. 

Columbkill's  fame  and  influence  thus  spread  far 
and  wide.  His  disciples  were  called  "the  servants 
of  God."  In  order  that  the  monks  of  lona  miofht 
pursue  their  studies  and  writing  of  books  in  entire 
seclusion,  Columbkill  made  a  law  that  neither  any 
woman  nor  any  cow  should  be  allowed  on  coiumbkiii 
the  island  ;  "for,"  he  said,  "where  there  is  ^tiona. 
a  cow,  there  will  be  a  woman ;  and,  wherever  there  is 
a  woman,  there  will  be  mischief."  Columbkill  more 
than  once  interposed,  with  his  wisdom  and  his  author- 
ity, in  the  affairs  of  Ireland.  He  defended  the  bards, 
whom  one  of  the  kings  wished  to  suppress ;  he  suc- 
cessfully opposed  the  taxation  of  his  lona  colony; 
and  the  Irish  priesthood  often  resorted  to  him  for 
counsel.  Columbkill  was  over  eighty  years  old  when 
he  died.  When  he  rose  on  the  Sunday  morning  of 
his  death,  he  said  to  one  of  his  disciples,  cheerfully, 
"  This  day  is  called  the  day  of  rest ;  and  such  will  it 
be  for  me,  for  it  will  finish  my  labors."  A  few  hours 
later,  he  had  quietly  passed  away.  It  is  said  that 
death  came  to  him  as  he  sat  writing  some  pious 
sayings  on  vellum  (596). 


28  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER   V. 

EARLY    IRISH    KINGS. 

IT  has  already  been  stated  that  Ireland,  at  an  early 
period,  was  divided  into  four  great  provinces. 
Provinces  of  which  we  novv  know  as  Ulster,  Leinster, 
Ireland.  Mimstcr,  and  Connaught.     The  royal  do- 

main of  Meath,  moreover,  was  set  apart  from  these, 
serving  as  the  residence  and  appanage  of  the  arch- 
king,  or  sovereign,  of  all  Ireland.  Each  of  the  four 
great  provinces  was  occupied  by  a  separate  tribe, 
and  each  tribe  was  ruled  by  a  king  of  ancient  and 
powerful    family.      The    reigning    family    of    Ulster 

.    .    ,  were  the  O' Neils  ;  of  Leinster,  the  Mac- 

Ancient  '  ' 

Irish  fami-  murroughs  ;  of  Munster,  the  O'Briens, 
alternating  with  the  McCarthys  ;  and  of 
Connaught,  the  O'Connors.  All  of  these  names  are 
still  very  common  in  Ireland.  For  several  centuries 
the  O'Neils  of  Ulster  wore  the  arch-regal  crown, 
and  held  sway  over  the  entire  island.  Besides  these 
arch-kings  and  kings,  there  were  in  Ireland  a  multi- 
tude of  lesser  rulers,  who  divided  the  various  prov- 
inces. Among  the  most  noted  of  these  lesser  chiefs 
were  the  O'Donnels,  O'Kanes,  O' Haras,  O'Doghertys, 


EARLY    IRISH    KINGS.  29 

O'Rourkes,  O'Kellys,  O'Reillys,  O'Malleys,  O'Dowds, 
O'Sullivans,  and  O'Donoghues,  —  names  which  we 
still  often  hear. 

While  the  various  provinces  and  tribes  were  thus 
governed  by  chiefs  of  the  same  families,  the  custom 
of  electing  them  long  continued.  A  ma-  Election  of 
jority  of  two-thirds  was  required  to  com-  <^hiefs. 
plete  the  choice  of  a  king  or  chief ;  but  it  came  to 
be  more  and  more  the  case,  that  he  was  chosen  from 
the  same  family  or  clan  as  that  of  those  who  had 
preceded  him.  The  kings  were  always  crowned  with 
much  solemnity.  The  ceremony  usually  took  place 
on  the  summit  of  a  hisfh  hill.  A  white  wand  was 
given  to  the  new  monarch,  who  was  attired  in  his 
royal  robes,  and  who  took  an  oath  to  rule  wisely  and 
well.  Afterwards  he  was  consecrated  in  a  church, 
with  imposing  religious  rites.  Some  of  the  festivals 
of  the  Irish  kings,  too,  were  attended  by  many 
ancient  and  hallowed  customs.  Especially  was  the 
festival  which  took  place  on  the  ist  of  November 
noted  for  its  ceremonies  and  general  observance. 

Gradually  the  laws  introduced  by  St.  Patrick  were 
adopted  by  the  arch-regal  court,  and  the  courts  of 
the  four  provinces.  These  laws  still  en-  changes  in 
forced  the  principle  of  electing  the  kings  ^"®^  '*^^- 
and  chiefs,  but  ordained  that  those  chosen  must  be 
of  noble  descent.  The  kings  and  chiefs  were  still 
bound  to  each  other  by  the  ancient  Druidic  customs. 
Fines,  taxes,  and  other  payments  continued  to  be 
estimated,  not  in  money,  but  in  cattle,  sheep,  horses, 


30  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

slaves,  coats  of  armor,  chess-boards,  drinking-cups, 
and  other  articles  in  common  or  frequent  use.  The 
Tributes  and  quantity  of  thcsc  things  which  was  owed 
fines.  i^y  ^Y\^Q  tribesmen  to  their  chief,  or  by  the 

chief  to  the  king,  was  exactly  fixed  in  each  case  by 
the  laws.  The  laws,  moreover,  minutely  described 
what  privileges  and  powers  each  ruler  might  enjoy, 
and  what  he  was  prohibited  from  doing  or  receiving. 
Some  of  these  privileges  and  restrictions  are  amus- 
ing. For  instance,  it  was  ordained  that  the  arch- 
king  must  never,  on  any  account,  lie  abed  till  the 
sun  rose.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  laid  down,  that 
on  a  certain  day, — the  ist  of  August, — the  arch- 
king  might  eat  fish  from  the  Boyne,  fruit  from  the 
Isle  of  Man,  and  venison  from  Naas. 

The  kings  of  the  provinces,  in  like  manner,  had 
curious  rights,  and  were  forbidden  to  do  certain 
„.  .  ^     ,       thino^s.     The  king  of  Leinster,  for  exam- 

Rjghts  of  o  c>  ' 

kings  and  pie,  was  cxprcssly  enjoined  not  to  permit 
any  Druidic  ceremony  to  take  place  in  his 
territories.  To  him,  on  the  other  hand,  was  granted 
the  right  to  partake  of  the  ale  of  Cullen,  and  to  pre- 
side over  certain  ancient  games.  The  king  of  Munster 
could  not  gather  his  warriors  on  the  confines  of 
Leinster ;  but  he  had  the  privilege  of  dwelling,  dur- 
ing Lent,  at  Cashel,  without  cost  to  himself.  The 
monarch  of  Ulster  was  warned  not  to  drink  from  a 
certain  fountain,  nor  to  take  heed  of  omens.  His 
privileges  were  to  preside  over  the  festivities  of 
Cooley,  to  drill  his  troops  on  the  plains  of   Louth, 


EARLY    IRISH    KINGS.  3  I 

and  to  quarter  his  soldiers  for  three  nights  in  Armagh. 
If  a  king  or  prince  adhered  to  the  Druidic  faith  or 
practices,  his  tenants  were  relieved  from  paying  rent 
to  him,  and  his  debtors  were  released  from  their 
debts  to  him. 

The  reigns  of  the  early  Irish  monarchs  were 
marked  by  many  convulsions,  by  frequent  struggles 
for  supremacy,  and  now  and  then  by  assas-  convulsions 
sinations.  A  long  time  elapsed  after  St.  ^"  Ireland. 
Patrick's  death  before  the  arch-kings  themselves 
became  Christian.  Lewy,  the  son  of  Leoghaire,  is 
related  to  have  been  struck  by  lightning  because  of 
his  adherence  to  the  Druidic  faith  ;  and,  sixty  years 
later,  Dermid,  who  still  fostered  the  Druid  priests, 
and  who  caused  an  accused  man  to  be  seized  on  the 
altar  of  a  Christian  church,  was  solemnly  cursed  by 
a  Christian  bishop,  who  also  pronounced  condemna- 
tion on  him  on  the  hill  of  Tara  (554).  No  Irish  king, 
it  is  said,  afterwards  made  Tara  his  place  of  abode. 
The   successors  of   Dermid  lived  at  Tail- 

Dermid. 

teen,  and  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Ennell. 
Dermid    himself  was   slain,  soon  after  the  bishop's 
anathema  against  him,  in  a  furious  battle  with  the 
king  of  Ulster. 

Among  the  reigns  which  intervened  between  that 
of   Dermid  and  the  period   of   the   invasion  of   the 
Danes    (556-794),   some    are    conspicuous   Hugh  the 
for    the    important    and    thrilling    events   second, 
which  took  place  within  their  span.     Such  was  the 
reign  of  Hugh  the  Second,  who  sat  upon  the  Irish 


32  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

throne  for  the  long  period  of  twenty-seven  years. 
It  was  in  this  monarch's  time  that  Columbkill  estab- 
lished his  colony  on  the  Scottish  isle  of  lona,  and 
that  the  attempt  was  made  to  suppress  the  ancient 
rank  and  power  of  the  bards.  King  Hugh  failed, 
indeed,  to  get  rid  of  the  bards,  but  succeeded  in 
restricting  many  of  their  old-time  privileges.  They 
were  forbidden  to  wander  about  the  country,  singing 
and  reciting  their  poems,  or  to  have  companies  of 
servants.  Hugh  also  attempted,  in  vain,  to  impose 
taxes  on  the  colony  of  lona.  It  was  during  his  reign 
that  the  Christian  priesthood  rose  to  a  great  height 
of  power  in  Ireland. 

A  number  of  brief  reigns  followed  the  death  of 
Hugh  the  Second.  In  that  of  Donald  the  Second 
Successors  (624-640),  the  final  struggle  took  place 
of  Hugh  the  bctwccn  Druidism  and  Christianity.  A 
pretender,  Congal,  prince  of  Ulidia,  rose  to 
contest  the  crown  of  Ulster.  Congal  rallied  under 
his  banners  the  forces  of  Druidism  in  the  North, 
and  his  cause  became  that  of  the  ancient  religion. 
He  had  also  as  allies  numerous  bands  of  Saxons, 
Scots,  and  Britons,  who  crossed  the  Irish  Sea  to  join 
him.  King  Donald  gathered  his  sturdy  tribesmen, 
and  went  in  person  to  encounter  his  foe.  The  royal 
banners  bore  upon  them  the  ancient  symbols  of  Irish 
sovereignty,  — red  hands  and  crosses,  axes,  eagles, 
and  lions.  Above  the  rebel  prince  floated  the  bright 
standard  of  the  Red  Branch  Knights,  displaying 
a  yellow  lion  on   a  field  of  green  satin.     The  rival 


EARLY    IRISH    KINGS.  33 

hosts  came  into  fierce  collision  on  the  broad  plain  of 
Moira.  Donald  and  the  Christian  cause  The  Battle 
were  completely  victorious.  Congal  was  °^  Moira. 
killed  in  the  battle,  his  forces  were  put  to  flight, 
and  the  triumphant  king  established  his  power  beyond 
dispute.  The  battle  of  Moira  was  the  death-struggle 
of  Druidism  in  Ireland  (637). 

After  the  death  of  the  brave  Donald,  two  brothers, 
Connall  and  Kellach,  reigned  jointly  over  Ireland  ; 
and  they,  in  turn,  were  succeeded  by  two  brothers, 
Dermid  and  Blathmac,  who  also  shared  between  them 
the  government  of  the  kingdom.  The  latter  were 
earnest  Christians,  and  ruled  wisely  and  well.  In 
their  time  the  yellow  plague  ravaged  Ireland,  and 
was  finally  fatal  to  the  two  kings  themselves.  The 
next  reign  of  note  was  that  of  Finnacta, 

.         Finnacta. 

a  monarch  who  was  called  the  "  Hospit- 
able." It  was  during  his  rule,  that  the  Anglo-Sax- 
ons, who  had  long  been  settled  in  Britain,  made  their 
first  formidable  invasion  of  Ireland.  Egfrid,  king  of 
Northumbria,  sent  an  expedition  under  Boert,  one 
of  his  earls,  across  the  Irish  Channel.  Boert  dis- 
embarked at  the  mouth  of  the  Boyne,  and  spread 
havoc  and  desolation  through  the  fertile  fields  of 
Meath.  But  the  force  he  led  was  not  sufficient  to 
attempt  a  conquest  of  the  island  ;  and  so  he  retired, 
after  seizing  the  cattle,  burning  the  churches,  and 
killing  all  the  Irish  who  came  in  his  way. 

During  the  greater  part  of  the  eighth  century  the 
career  of  the  Irish  kingdom  was,  for  the  most  part. 


34  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

tranquil  and  uneventful.  Of  all  the  kings  for  a 
A  peaceful  hundred  years,  only  three  were  killed  in 
period.  battle.     Two  of  them,  Flaherty  and  Nial 

the  Second,  gave  up  the  burdens  of  sovereignty,  and 
like  the  German  emperor,  Charles  the  Fifth,  many 
centuries  after,  sought  tranquillity  in  the  cloisters  of  a 
monastery.  Hugh  the  Fifth,  who  succeeded  Flaherty, 
was  not  only  an  able  warrior,  but  was  a  poet  of  no 
small  merit.  He  was  devoted  to  the  church,  and 
engaged  in  a  fierce  war  with  the  prince  of  Ulidia,  in 
defence  of  the  rights  of  the  bishop  of  Armagh.  It 
was  in  the  reign  of  Donald  the  Third,  Hugh's  suc- 
Reiigious  ccssor,  that  learning  and  religious  fervor 
fervor.  rcachcd  their  greatest   height    in  Ireland 

(750).  The  longest  and  most  troublous  reign  of  the 
eighth  century  was  that  of  Donogh  the  First,  whose 
rule  lasted  twenty-one  years.  The  sovereignty  of 
Meath  was  contested  during  that  period  by  the  family 
of  O'Melaghlin,  who  were  forced  at  last,  however,  to 
yield  to  Donogh's  powers.  It  was  in  the  last  years 
of  Donogh  that  the  first  invasion  of  Ireland  by  the 
Danes  took  place. 


THE    INVASION    OF    THE    DANES.  35 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE    INVASION    OF   THE    DANES. 

IRELAND  had  been  for  nearly  three  centuries  the 
centre  of  the  scholarship,  piety,  and  Christian 
zeal  in  the  world.  She  was  now  doomed  to  be  over- 
run by  a  pagan  race,  and  to  submit  for  a  long  period 
to  a  barbarous  foreign  yoke.  In  the  catastrophe, 
learning  and  Christianity  were  destined  to  almost 
disappear  from  the  island,  and  were  not  to  be  re- 
vived until  after  many  desperate  conflicts.  In  the 
course  of  time,  the  condition  of  the  Irish  condition  of 
had  been  gradually  changing.  Tribal  cus-  '^®  ^"^^ 
toms  had  begun  to  disappear.  The  lands  which  had 
once  been  used  by  the  tribes  in  common,  were  becom- 
ing absorbed  by  the  chiefs  and  barons ;  and  the  quar- 
rels between  the  chiefs  resulted,  here  and  there,  in 
the  conquest  of  domains  which  became  the  property 
of  the  victors.  It  was  the  dissensions  and  rival 
ambitions  which  grew  up  among  the  chiefs,  which 
opened  to  the  Danes  the  way  to  descend  upon  the 
Irish  coast,  to  carry  rapine  and  murder  into  the  inte- 
rior, and  finally  to  subjugate  the  island  to  their 
savage  rule. 


36  YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 

The   Danes  were   a  race  of   hardy,  ferocious  sea- 
warriors,  who  came,  not  only  from  Denmark  (whence 
they  derived   their   name),  but   also  from 

The  Danes.       ,,  ,     ^    .       .         ,         _^ 

Norway  and  Friesland.  ror  many  centu- 
ries they  had  roved  the  seas,  bent  on  errands  of 
plunder  and  conquest.  They  were  very  skilful  navi- 
gators, and  were  unequalled  in  their  warlike  courage. 
Their  kinsmen  had  defeated  the  legions  of  Roman 
emperors,  and  had  sacked  and  burned  Rome  itself. 
Everywhere  along  the  coasts  of  Northern  Europe 
the  coming  of  the  Danes  was  intensely  dreaded. 
No  race  could  cope  with  their  great,  strong  ships  on 
the  ocean  :  few  could  withstand  their  hot  valor  on  the 
field  of  battle.  But  Ireland  had  for  centuries  es- 
caped the  scourge  of  their  attack.  Already  Britain 
Invasion  of  had  long  bccn  assailed  by  the  fleets  of  the 
England.  Dauish  vikiugs,  while  the  fields  and  vil- 
lages along  her  shores  had  been  devastated  by  the 
Danish  pirates.  Two  centuries  were  yet  to  elapse, 
however,  before  a  Danish  king  would  sit  upon  the 
,   ,     ,  British  throne.     The  first  invasion  of  Ire- 

Ireland  as- 
sailed by  the  land    by  these    ferocious    sea-rovers    took 

Danes.  pjacc  towards  the  close  of  the  eighth  cen- 

tury. At  first,  they  came  with  their  big  ships  at  rare 
intervals,  landing  at  various  points  on  the  eastern 
coast,  building  forts,  ravaging  the  country  round- 
about, and  then  departing.  But  in  course  of  time 
the  Danes  and  their  kinsmen,  the  Norwegians,  found 
out  the  dissensions  which  existed  between  the  Irish 
rulers,   and    perceived    that    Ireland,   given    over   to 


THE    INVASION    OF    THE    DANES.  3/ 

piety  and  learning,  had  neglected  the  arts  of  war. 
Then  they  flocked  across  the  sea  in  greater  num- 
bers, and  with  greater  frequency.  They  seized  upon 
Dublin  and  Wexford  on  the  east,  Cork  on   ^    .  . 

'  Danish  suc- 

the  south,  and  Down  on  the  north.  They  cesses  on  the 
then  began  to  make  and  fortify  settlements,  ^°^^  ' 
from  whence  they  issued  to  spread  rapine  and  mas- 
sacre among  the  peaceful  villages  and  the  quiet 
monasteries  of  the  interior.  The  Danes  were  re- 
solved to  conquer  the  island  and  to  extirpate  its 
people,  and  to  themselves  enjoy  its  fair  domain. 

The  Danes  were  pagans,  like  the  Saxons  who  had 
subjugated  Britain.     They  believed  in  the  gods  Odin 
and  Thor,  and  the  goddess  Friga ;  and  to  these  they 
offered    barbarous  sacrifices.     Their  faith    Religion  of 
was     warlike,     bloody,     and      revengeful.   ^^^  Danes. 
Above  all  things  the  Danes  detested  and  despised 
Christianity,  which  they  looked  upon  as  a  religion 
rival  to  their  own,  and  one,  entirely  unlike  their  own, 
of   peace  and  brotherhood.     When,  therefore,   they 
found  themselves  in  Ireland,  the  first  objects  of  their 
attack  were  the  sacred  places  of  Irish  piety.     With 
fierce  and  rapacious  ardor  they  assailed,  sacked,  and 
burned   the    churches    and    monasteries.      They  de- 
stroyed the  precious  books,  which  had  been  written 
with  such  long  and  patient  care  by  the  monks.     They 
seized  the  ornaments,  the  jewelled  plate   Danish 
and  symbols,  the  rich  clothes  and  golden  barbarities, 
chalices  which  adorned  the  Christian  sanctuaries  and 
the  shrines  of  the  Irish  saints.     They  scattered  the 


38  YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 

bones  and  relics  of  the  saints  to  the  winds.  Without 
mercy,  they  murdered  bishops  and  priests  wherever 
they  could  find  them.  They  broke  up  the  colleges 
and  schools,  driving  the  students  into  exile,  and  raz- 
ing to  the  ground  the  edifices  within  which  so  many 
thousands  had  found  a  scholastic  retreat. 

The  Irish  fought  desperately  against  the  relent- 
less invaders;  but,  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  inva- 
sion, the  Danes  were  victorious  in  almost  every  part 
of  the  island.  When  they  had  vanquished  the  Irish, 
they  avenged  themselves  by  the  most  savage  atroci- 
ties. The  Danish  warriors  forced  themselves  into 
Irish  households,  and  compelled  the  families  to  sup- 
port and  serve  them.  They  made  the  Irish  wear 
their  own  cast-off  clothing,  and  forbade  them  to  have 
schools,  to  learn  the  art  of  war,  or  to  hold  Christian 
Turges  the  scrviccs.  At  last,  a  powerful  Danish  chief- 
^^"^-  tain  named  Turges  brought  Ireland  under 

well-nigh  complete  subjection.  He  built  strong  for- 
tifications at  Dublin,  Waterford,  and  Limerick,  and 
took  up  his  abode  on  the  green  borders  of  Lough 
(Lake)  Ree,  in  the  heart  of  Ireland  (837).  From 
thence  he  ruled  the  Irish  with  an  iron  hand.  He 
compelled  them  to  pay  heavy  taxes  :  those  who  re- 
fused to  pay  these  taxes  had  their  noses  cut  off.  His 
soldiers  were  quartered  on  the  people,  and  he  cruelly 
punished  every  attempt  to  worship  according  to  the 
Christian  faith. 

For  a  long  time  this  Danish  despot  held  his  own. 
In  vain  did  the  valiant  Irish  king,  Nial,  contest  his 


THE    INVASION    OF    THE    DANES.  39 

power.     But  the  capture  and    imprisonment  of   the 
archbishop  of  Armagh  by  the   Danes  aroused   the 
ancient  military  ardor  of  the  Irish.     Nial   Niai's 
defeated  the  Danes  on  the  plain  of  Moy-  victory, 
nith  ;  and  Turges  was  not  long  after  taken  prisoner 
by  Malachy,  king  of  Westmeath,  and  was  drowned  in 
the  waters  of  Lough  Ree.     The  fortunes  of  war  con- 
tinued to  waver  between  the  Irish  and  the  Danes  for 
many  years.     The  monasteries,  churches,  and  schools 
were  for  the  most  part  swept  away ;  the  people  were 
impoverished    by  the  almost  constant  desolation  of 
conflict ;  and  there  were  times  when  the  Irish  seemed 
ready  to  yield  in  sullen  despair  to  their  rude  conquer- 
ors.    Now  and  then  an  able  Irish  king  would  arise, 
inflict  heavy  defeats  upon  the  Danes,  and  revive  'the 
sinking  spirits  of  the  people.     Then  fierce   Rj^airjes  of 
rivalries  between  the  princes  would  break  the  Irish 
out  afresh ;  and,  amid  the  fatal  divisions  of  p"""^* 
the  Irish,  the  Danes  would  recover  again  the  ground 
they  had  lost. 

At  last,  an  ambitious  and  warlike  prince,  in  the  per- 
son of  Brian,  brother  of  the  king  of  Munster,  arose 
to  contend  successfully  with  the  savage  intruders. 
Brian  was  a  wise  as  well  as  a  brave  man.  He  not 
only  fought  with  brilliant  courage,  but  gave  just 
laws  to  his  subjects.  His  proud  spirit  burned  to 
avenge  the  wrongs  which  the  Irish  had  so  long  suf- 
fered at  the  hands  of  the  Danes.  He  stoutly  refused 
to  pay  the  tribute  which  the  Danes  exacted  of  him, 
gathered  his  forces  together,  and  met  the  Danes  in 


40  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

battle  at  Sulcoit.  A  desperate  battle  ensued.  In 
the  end  the  Danes  were  driven  from  the  field,  and 
hastened  to  find  refuge  within  the  walls  of  Limerick. 
The  valiant  Irish  followed  them  through  the  gates, 
and  drove  them  out  of  the  city  with  great  slaughter. 
Limerick  Limcrick  was  then  plundered  and  burned, 
destroyed.       ^^^^  j^g  Danish  inhabitants  were  reduced 

to  slavery.  In  the  conflict,  Mahon,  Brian's  brother, 
had  been  slain  by  the  Danes  ;  and  this  inspired  Brian 
to  continue  the  war  with  more  fiery  vigor  than 
before. 

Soon  after  this  defeat  of  the  Danes,  Brian  became, 
by  his  elder  brother's  death,  king  of  Munster  ;  al- 
though, by  the  law  of  alternate  succession,  the  throne 
really  belonged  to  a  prince  of  another  family.  Brian 
was  no  less  ambitious  than  energetic.  He  now  re- 
solved to  become  the  ruler  of  all   Erin. 

King  Brian.  .  .  .  - 

With  this  end  m  view,  he  married  a  sister 
of  the  king  of  Leinster,  and  also  caused  his  children 
to  marry  into  powerful  families.  He  won  the  affec- 
tion of  the  people  by  restoring  monasteries  and 
schools,  rebuilding  fortresses  and  bridges,  and  driv- 
ing the  Danes  from  the  lands  which  they  had  seized, 
and  had  held  by  superior  force.  Thirty  years  after  his 
victory  over  the  Danes  at  Limerick,  Brian  succeeded 
Maiachy  in  cxpelling  Malachy,  the  king  of  all  Ireland, 
dethroned.  from  his  throuc,  and  assumed  the  crown 
himself.  But  now  Brian  quarrelled  bitterly  with  his 
brother-in-law,  the  king  of  Leinster.  He  demanded 
of  him  a  tribute  which  had  long  ceased  to  be  exacted. 


THE    INVASION    OF    THE    DANES.  4I 

Upon  this,  the  king  of  Leinster  allied  himself  with 
the  Danes,  and  with  them  prepared  to  oust  Brian 
from  the  Irish  throne. 

The  sturdy  old  warrior  promptly  aroused  himself, 
not  only  to  defend  his  throne,  but  also  to  deal  his 
ancient  enemy,  the  Danes,  a  tremendous  blow.  Al- 
lied with  the  Danes  were  the  forces  of  Leinster,  a 
Norwegian  fleet  under  Sigurd,  and  fresh  recruits  from 
Norway  and  Denmark.  In  all,  the  forces  opposed  to 
Brian  comprised  over  twenty  thousand  men.  Brian, 
on  his  side,  entered  upon  the  conflict  with  thirty 
thousand  warriors,  drawn  from  Meath,  Munster,  and 
Connaught.  Five  of  Brian's  sons  served  as  generals 
under  their  aged  but  still  vigorous  sire.  The  white- 
haired  monarch  himself  rode  at  the  head  of  his  sol- 
diers, inspiring  them  with  his  own  dauntless  and 
unyielding  spirit.  The  hostile  forces  met  The  battle 
in  battle  at  dawn,  on  Good  Friday,  at  °^  ciontarf. 
Clontarf  (1014).  The  fight  raged  with  intense,  un-* 
abating  fury  throughout  the  day.  The  loss,  both  on 
the  side  of  the  Irish  and  on  that  of  the  Danes,  was 
terrible.  The  Danes  and  their  allies  lost  nearly 
one-half  of  their  army.  At  dusk,  the  rout  of  the 
foreigners  had  become  complete.  The  Danes  fled 
before  the  prowess  of  Brian's  stalwart  warriors,  and 
were  driven  to  the  coast,  and  within  the  walls  of 
Dublin.  But  the  brave  Brian  did  not  survive  his 
hard-won  victory.  As  he  lay  in  his  tent,  some  Danes 
who  were  hastening  from  the  field  discovered  and 
slew  him.      Four  of    his  sons,  moreover,  had    been 


42  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

killed    while   fighting   valiantly   for   their   country's 
cause. 

The  battle  of  Clontarf  forever  destroyed  the  as- 
cendancy of  the  Danes  in  Ireland.  They  never  re- 
Finai  defeat  covcrcd  from  the  blow,  and  ceased  from 
of  the  that   time  to  continue  their  attempts   to 

gain  sway  over  the  entire  island.  Some  of 
their  settlements  still  remained  at  various  points  on 
the  eastern  coast ;  and,  in  process  of  time,  the  Danes 
who  thus  staid  in  Ireland  became  Christians,  and 
were  absorbed  among  the  native  race,  or  among  the 
English,  who  afterwards  established  themselves  over 
the  Irish.  At  the  time  of  the  death  of  Brian,  it 
seemed  as  if  the  Irish  were  about  to  become  un- 
disputed masters  of  their  own  land.  But  soon  the 
country  was  once  more  rent  by  the  feuds  and  rival- 
ries of  ambitious  princes,  and  by  bitter  struggles  to 
seize  or  hold  the  royal  power.  The  sad  history  of 
eivil  conflict  was  again  and  again  repeated,  until 
Ireland  lay  once  more  at  the  mercy  of  foreign 
conquerors. 


I- 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  43 


M 


CHAPTER   VII. 

CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE. 

I  ORE  than  a  century  and  a  half  elapsed  between 
the  defeat  of  the  Danes  at  Clontarf,  and  the 
invasion  of  Ireland  by  another  branch  of  the  same 
warlike  northern  race,  the  Normans,  under  ''  Strong- 
bow."  King  succeeded  king,  each  having  to  fight 
for  his  crown,  and  many  of  them  laying  down  their 
lives  in  the  fierce  civil  conflicts.  Malachy  the 
Second,  who  succeeded  Brian  as  king  of  Ireland,  was 
the  last  sovereign  for  many  generations,  who  held 
undisputed  sway  over  the  whole  island.  The  arch- 
royal    family    of    O'Neil    had    long:    since 

,  ,  ,  .  ,  The  O'Neils. 

ceased  to  be  the  unquestioned  possessors 
of  the  Irish  crown.  In  this  century  and  a  half  of 
almost  perpetual  wars,  many  lofty,  heroic  figures 
appear  on  the  scene  of  Irish  history.  Brilliant 
battles  are  fought ;  the  tide  of  conflict  flows  this 
way  and  that ;  the  old  martial  valor  of  the  Irish, 
whetted  by  the  long  struggles  with  the  Danes,  has 
revived,  and  is  often  called  into  play  beneath  the 
banners  of  the  royal  and  rival  O'Briens,  O' Neils,  and 
O'Connors. 


44  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

During  this  period  the  ancient  Irish  laws  and  cus 
toms,  and  the  code  established  by  St.  Patrick,  rapidly 
2:ave  way  before  the  power  of  nobles  and 

Changes  in       *^  -^  ^ 

laws  and  chicftains  at  the  head  of  submissive  clans, 
customs.  -^^  longer  was  the  land  everywhere  held 
in  common,  for  common  uses.  It  had  become,  to  a 
large  degree,  the  domain  of  powerful  lords,  and  was 
cultivated  by  the  serfs,  whom  these  lords  had  sub- 
dued to  their  service.  Slavery  continued  to  be  one 
of  the  features  of  Irish  society.  The  slaves  were 
employed  in  tilling  the  land,  and  in  the  most  menial 
labors.  There  were  three  ways  in  which  men 
and  women  were  reduced  to  slavery.  They  were 
Slavery  in  either  prisoucrs  taken  in  war,  or  were  con- 
ireiand.  dcmncd   to   slavcry  as  a  punishment    for 

crime,  or  were  bought  in  the  slave-markets,  chiefly 
those  of  Britain.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  Irish, 
even  at  this  early  period,  to  hold  fairs,  or  markets, 
at  certain  stated  places  and  periods.  At  these  fairs 
goods  were  exchanged,  many  kinds  of  games  amused 
the  people,  and  the  great  lords  contended  with  each 
other  in  spirited  chariot-races. 

The  principal  articles  of  commerce  in  which  the 
Irish  of  this  period  dealt  were  slaves,  timber  (espe- 
irish  com-  cially  Irish  oak),  and  the  products  of  the 
merce.  g^jj      yj^g    mcchanic    arts    seem    to  have 

made  little  progress,  and  were  only  followed  by  the 
lowest  classes.  The  armorers,  who  fashioned  the 
weapons  and  armor  of  the  chiefs  and  their  soldiers, 
were  the  most  highly  regarded  of  all  artisans.     The 


\ 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  45 

literature  of  the  time  was   composed,  for  the  most 
part,  of  the  ancient  legends,  and  the  teachings  and 
narratives  of  the  fathers  of  the  church.     The  race  of 
bards  still  survived ;  and  the  people  delighted  in  the 
strange  tales,  which,  with  the  accompani- 
ment of  the  harp,  were  sung  to  them  of 
fairy  horses,  speaking  trees,  the  influence  of  the  stars 
on    human    destiny,   and    the    wonders    wrought    by 
giants,  ogres,  and  gnomes.     Music,  as  always,  had  a 
great  charm  for  the  Irish.    Besides  the  harp,  they  had 
trumpets,  horns,  and  bagpipes  ;  and  people  of  every 
rank  prided  themselves  upon  their  skill  in  perform- 
ing  on   these   instruments.      Even   as   late   as   the 
twelfth  century,  young  men  came  from  every  part  of 
Europe,  to  Ireland,  to  be  taught  music.    The  game  of 
chess  was  a  very  popular  pastime  of  the  Games  and 
Irish    of   this    period.      We    hear   of    the  pastimes, 
chess-boards    inlaid    with    gold    and    silver,   and  the 
finely  carved  kings  and  bishops  that  were  used  in 
wealthy  Irish  households. 

In  process  of  time,  several  great  roads  had  been 
built  in  Ireland  ;  so  that,  at  the  period  of  the  Anglo- 
Norman  conquest,  the  island  was  traversed  by  high- 
ways and  cross-roads  in  many  directions.  Five 
highways  radiated  from  Tara  to  different  remote 
points.       The   s^reat    highways  were   con- 

^  *^       ,      .        ,  r  Highways. 

structed  so  as  to  admit  the  passage  or  two 
chariots   abreast,   and   the   law   ordained    that    they 
should  be  repaired  three  times  a  year.     When  a  fair, 
or  a  gathering  for  the  playing  of  the  national  games. 


46  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

was  about  to  take  place,  these  roads  swarmed  with  a 
motley  multitude  of  nobles  and  bishops  in  chariots, 
attended  by  slaves  ;  of  the  common  people  in  rude 
attire ;  and  often  of  foreigners  who  came  to  see  the 
sports,  and  sometimes  to  contend  for  the  prizes. 
These  occasions  were  not  seldom  attended  by  scenes 
of  violence  and  even  of  bloodshed,  but  otherwise 
were  full  of  noisy  amusements. 

Under  the  barbaric  rule  of  the  Danes,  not  only 
had  the  monasteries  and  schools  been  well-nigh  swept 
out  of  Ireland,  but  the  religious  fervor  of  the  Irish 
Decline  of  had  bccu  almost  quenched.  The  spirit  of 
religion.  ^-j^^  pcoplc  changed  from  a  love  of  peace 
and  quiet  occupation,  to  something  of  the  ferocity 
which  marked  the  Irish  of  pagan  times.  The  kings 
and  princes  became  brutal  and  cruel.  The  morals 
of  the  people  suffered  a  like  decline.  Marriage  was 
no  longer  as  sacredly  regarded  as  it  had  once  been. 
Men  easily  divorced  themselves  from  their  wives,  and 
some  of  the  princes  took  to  themselves  several  wives. 
Many  of  the  priests  themselves  had  become  loose  in 
their  habits,  and  the  common  people  were  naturally 
degraded  into  following  the  example  of  their  rulers 
and  religious  teachers.  At  last,  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, the  deplorable  condition  of  the  Irish  church 
and  of  Irish  morals,  aroused  the  zeal  of  some  holy 
men,  who  grieved  to  see  the  '*  Isle  of  Saints  "  so  far 
fallen  from  its  former  religious  glory.  St.  Bernard, 
from  his  bleak  monastery  in  the  Alps,  sent  forth 
solemn  denunciations  against  the  degenerate  race ; 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  47 

and  the  Irish  **  saints  "  —  Celsus,  Malachy,  and  Law- 
rence —  sought  to  bring  about  a  revival  of  piety  in 
its  midst. 

The  pope  of  Rome,  too,  was  resolved  that  a  nation 
so  fervid  in  its  religious  zeal  should  be  restored  to 
the  fold  of  the  Church.     He  sent  a  cardi-  ^^    „ 

The  Pope 

nal,    Papiron,    to    Ireland,   to    reform    the  and  the 
abuses  which  had   crept   into  the   priest-  ^"^^' 
hood  and  the   religious   houses,   and   to  arouse  the 
Irish  to  a  better  life.     Papiron  went  from  place  to 
place,    creating    new   bishoprics,    enjoining   a   more 
strict  observance  of  the  sacred  rites  and  practices, 
and   condemning  the  too   common   sins  of   simony, 
usury,  drunkenness,  and  disregard  of  the  marriage- 
tie.     So  it  was  that,  on  the  eve  of  the  Anglo-Norman 
invasion,  the   Irish    church   was   restored  The  church 
to  something  like  its  former  influence  and  '■^stored, 
power ;  that   the  old  religious  ardor  began  to  shine 
again ;   and    that    monasteries    and    churches  were 
replanted  where  they  had  been  destroyed  in  the  long 
era  of  Danish  ascendancy  and  fierce  civil  wars. 

This  revival  of  religion  was  attended  by  a  similar 
revival  of  scholarship  and  learning.  Once  more  the 
monasteries  became  the  home  of  diligent,  studious 
monks,  absorbing  the  lore  of  nations,  copying  and 
illuminating  books  of  parchment  with  patient  toil, 
compilino^  histories,  and  collectino;  annals.   ,  .  ^     ^  , 

^     ^      ^  '  ^  Irish  schol- 

At  this  period,  not  a  few  Irish  scholars  ars  and 
achieved  a  fame  which  has  preserved  ^"  ^'^^* 
their  names  to  our  own  day.     Two  monks,  Tiernan 


48  YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 

O'Broin  and  Scotus,  wrote  histories,  gave  the  dates 
of  ecHpses,  quoted  from  Greek  and  Latin  writers, 
and  left  works  of  value  and  authority.  The  "  Four 
Masters,"  as  they  were  called,  of  the  abbey  of  Done- 
gal, left  important  chronicles  of  Irish  history.  Flan 
of  the  monastery,  another  learned  monk,  added  much 
to  the  stock  of  Irish  learning ;  and  the  teachers  of 
the  schools  of  Lismore  and  Armagh  were  long  cele- 
brated for  the  fulness  of  their  learning.  Of  Lismore 
at  this  period,  an  old  British  chronicler  quaintly 
wrote  :  "  It  is  a  famous  and  holy  city,  half  of  which 
is  an  asylum  into  which  no  woman  dares  enter. 
But  it  is  full  of  cells  and  monasteries,  and  religious 
men  in  great  abundance  abide  there." 

Thus  Ireland  seemed  on  the  point  of  again  becom- 
ing a  pious  and  studious  land,  to  which  the  world 
A  period  of  might  oucc  morc  look  for  enlightenment, 
hope.  g^^    ^Y\e   long   feuds    and    wars    of    rival 

princes  had  done  their  work ;  and,  as  in  the  time  of 
the  Danish  invasion,  had  paved  the  way  for  another 
foreign  conqueror.  Christianity,  which  had  been  so 
nearly  extinguished  by  the  Danish  worshippers  of 
Odin  and  Thor,  had  at  least  once  more  taken  root ; 
and  although  Ireland  after  the  twelfth  century  never 
regained  the  religious  lead  of  Europe  which  she  had 
held  in  the  days  of  Columbkill,  the  great  mass  of  her 
people  adhered  to  the  Christian  faith,  and  to  the 
authority  of  the  Roman  popes. 


THE    INVASION    OF    THE    NORMANS.  49 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE    INVASION    OF    THE    NORMANS. 

IN    the    middle    of   the    twelfth  century,   the  first 
"  Plantagenet "    king,    Henry    the    Second,    was 
reigning  in    England.     He  was    a   great-  Henry  the 
grandson  of   William  of    Normandy,  who  second, 
had  conquered  England,  and  had  assumed  the  Eng- 
lish crown  a  hundred  years  before.     Henry  was  more 
Norman  than  English  in  character  and  tastes.     The 
Normans,  who  had,  centuries  before,  conquered  and 
established    themselves    in    the    northern    part    of 
France,  which  was  thus  called  "Normandy,"  were  of 
the  same  race  as  those  Danes  who  had  later  swept 
over  England  and  Ireland.     They  came  originally,  as 
did  the  Danes,  from  Norway  and  Denmark ;  and  hav- 
ing subdued  Normandy,  they  had  now  overcome  the 
English,  as   the   Danes  had  done  before  them,  and 
were  destined,  like  the  Danes,  to  extend  their  inva- 
sion   to    Ireland    also.       But,    unlike    the  The  Nor- 
Danes,  the  Normans  were  at  least  Chris-  '"^"^• 
tians  ;  and  so,  in  their  conquests,  they  did  not  disturb 
the  existing  faith  of  the  English  or  the  Irish. 

The  pope  of  Rome,  in  the  middle  of  the  twelfth 


50  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

century,  was  an  Englishman,  whose  family  name 
was  Nicholas  Breakspeare,  and  whose  papal  title 
was  Adrian  the  Fourth.  In  those  days,  the  popes 
claimed  the  right  to  dispose,  as  they  pleased,  of  all 
the  islands  of  the  sea.  They  were  in  the  habit  of 
granting  islands  to  such  kings  as  they  favored  ;  and 
the  kings,  armed  with  the  pope's  grants,  believed 
that  they  were  justified  in  seizing  upon  the  islands, 
PopeAdri-  ^iid  ruHng  them.  Adrian  the  Fourth,  by 
an's  bull.  ^  solcmn  "  bull,"  or  decree,  made  over 
Ireland  to  Henry  the  Second  of  England,  and  gave 
him  permission  to  invade,  conquer,  and  hold  pos- 
session of  the  island  (1155).  The  pope  declared 
that  he  did  this  for  the  purpose  of  suppressing  vice, 
planting  virtue,  and  spreading  the  faith  among  the 
Irish.  Sixteen  years  elapsed,  however,  before  Henry 
availed  himself  of  the  pope's  authority  to  invade 
Ireland. 

The  reigning  king  of  Ireland  at  this  time  was 
Roderick  O'Connor,  a  brave,  but  harsh  and  cruel 
-.      „  ^       ruler.     Roderick  was  the  last  of  the  Celtic 

King  Roder- 
ick o'Con-      sovereigns    of    all    Ireland.      It   was   with 

difficulty  that  he  held  possession  of  the 
royal  power.  In  both  Ulster  and  Munster  his  author- 
ity was  disputed  and  defied  by  the  native  princes. 
He  had,  moreover,  a  bitter  quarrel  with  Dermid, 
prince  of  Leinster ;  and  it  was  this  quarrel,  which,  in 
its  results,  brought  about  the  Norman  invasion  of 
Ireland.  Dermid  of  Leinster  was  a  coarse  and  brutal 
old  man,  over  sixty  years  of  age,  but  still  swayed  by 


THE    INVASION    OF    THE    NORMANS.  5  I 

violent  passions.  He  was  gigantic  of  stature,  stal- 
wart of  frame,  despotic  and  overbearing  in  temper. 
Among  the  petty  chiefs  in  Connaught  was  Tiernan 
O'Rourke,  lord  of  Brefny,  who  had  a  comely  wife 
named  Dervorgoil.  Dermid  persuaded  Dermid-s 
Dervorgoil  to  desert  her  husband,  and  to  treachery, 
elope  with  him.  O'Rourke  vowed  vengeance  upon 
the  destroyer  of  his  domestic  peace,  and  appealed 
for  help  to  Roderick.  In  this  appeal  he  was  joined 
by  Dervorgoil's  kinsmen,  the  powerful  family  of 
O'Melaghlin. 

Dermid  soon  found  himself  confronted  by  a  formid 
able  array  of  enemies.  King  Roderick,  O'Rourke, 
and  the  O'Melaghlins  were  speedily  joined  not  only 
by  the  Danes  who  were  settled  in  and  around  Dublin, 
and  whom  Dermid  had  grievously  oppressed,  but  also 
by  many  of  Dermid's  own  subjects.  In  vain  did  the 
dissolute  old  tyrant  labor  to  gather  about  him  an 
army  which  could  cope  with  such  a  host  of  strong  and 
enraged  foes.  Then  he  added  a  fresh  crime  to  his 
other  misdeeds,  and  turned  traitor  to  his   ^ 

Dermid  ap- 

country.  He  fled  from  Ireland,  hastened  peais  to  the 
to  France,  and  presented  himself  before  ^"ei»shking. 
the  English  king,  who  was  then  busy  with  his  wars 
in  Aquitaine.  Dermid  unblushingly  proposed  to 
Henry  to  lose  no  time  in  making  use  of  the  pope's 
authority,  given  thirteen  years  before,  to  possess 
himself  of  Ireland ;  and  eagerly  offered  his  aid  in  ac- 
complishing that  end.  Henry  was  not  yet  ready  to 
enter  upon  the  conquest  of  Ireland  in  person  ;  but 


52  YOUNG    PEOPLES    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

he  gave  Dermid  a  letter  which  granted  permission  to 
his  knights  and  subjects  to  enlist  under  the  Leinster 
prince,  and  to  help  him  in  his  design  of  subduing 
Ireland.  'In  return  for  this  concession,  Dermid 
promptly  swore  allegiance  to  the  English  crown. 

Armed  with  Henry's  letter,  Dermid  repaired  to 
western  England  and  Wales,  and  soon  found  some 
adventurous  Norman  knights,  who,  lured  by  Dermid's 
lavish  promises  of  lands  and  plunder,  agreed  to  lead 
an  expedition  into  Ireland.  The  chief  of  these  was 
Richard  de  Clare,  earl  of  Pembroke,  who,  from  the 
strength  of  his  arms,  was  called  "  Strong- 

Strongbow. 

bow."  This  man  was  bold,  able,  and  am- 
bitious. He  was  middle-aged,  poor  in  purse,  and  had 
long  chafed  at  the  want  of  an  opportunity  to  show 
his  metal  on  the  battle-field.  He  was  a  distant  rela- 
tive of  Henry,  but  Henry  had  for  a  long  time  found 
no  use  for  his  services.  Strongbow  was  at  once 
attracted  by  Dermid's  project.  Dermid  promised 
him  not  only  a  large  domain  in  Ireland,  but  also 
his  daughter  Eva  in  marriage  ;  and  Strongbow  con- 
ceived the  hope  of  one  day  himself  becoming  king  of 
Leinster. 

Other  Norman  nobles  and  knights,  eager  to  em- 
ploy their  idle  arms,  joined  Dermid  and  Strongbow. 
The  Norman  Amoug  them  wcrc  Mauricc  Fitzgerald,  the 
knights.  ancestor  of  the  Geraldines,  who  afterwards 

became  very  powerful  in  the  Irish  districts  of  Kil- 
dare  and  Desmond  ;  Fitzgerald's  half-brother,  Robert 
Fitz  -  Stephen ;    the    two    Fitz-Henrys,    illegitimate 


THE    INVASION    OF    THE    NORMANS.  53 

grandsons  of  the  English  Henry  the  First ;  Ray- 
mond le  Gros  ;  and  Henry  Montmorres.  A  plan  of 
invasion  was  soon  arranged ;  and  ere  long  a  formidable 
force  of  Norman  soldiers,  well  disciplined,  skilful 
with  the  bow,  and  amply  armed,  had  been  collected. 
Dermid  returned  to  Ireland,  and  awaited  the  coming 
of  his  Norman  allies.     In  the  late  sprincr  _. 

^        °     First  inva- 

(11 69),  the  advance  guard  of  the  expedi-  sion  of  the 
tion,  under  the  command  of  Fitz-Stephen  ^°''"^^"^- 
and  Montmorres,  —  in  all,  about  one  thousand  men  — 
crossed  the  Irish  Channel.  The  Irish  defenders  of 
soil  were  ill-prepared  to  cope  with  the  hardy  Norman 
soldiery.  Their  armor  was  little  protection  :  their 
weapons  were  by  no  means  so  effective  as  those  of 
the  Normans. 

Fitz-Stephen  easily  seized  Wexford,  on  the  coast, 
driving  its  Danish  garrison  out ;  and  his  soldiers  rav- 
aged the  country  roundabout.  Then  Raymond  le  Gros 
crossed  the  Channel,  and  assailed  Waterford.  Strong- 
bow  followed  with  the  rest  of  the  Norman  army. 
Waterford  was  taken,  plundered,  and  fired ;  and 
Strongbow  was  wedded  to  the  princess  Eva  of  Lein- 
ster,  amid  the  desolation  of  the  ruined  town.  Der- 
mid had  now  joined  his  allies,  and  the  invaders 
proceeded  to  attack  DubHn.  This  town  was,  for  the 
most  part,  settled  by  Danes,  who  seem  to  have  by  this 
time  lost  their  old-time  warlike  prowess.  Fan  of 
At  all  events,  Dublin  fell  into  the  hands  i^^biin. 
of  the  assailants,  and  was  mercilessly  sacked  by  the 
victorious  Normans.     From  thence  they  sallied  forth 


54  YOUNG   PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

to  spread  desolation  through  the  ancient  domain  of 
Meath.  The  Danes  hastily  took  ship,  and  found 
refuge  in  the  Orkney  Islands. 

Roderick  O'Connor,  the  Irish  king,  was  aroused 
by  these  disasters  to  make  a  desperate  stand  against 
the  invaders.  Aided  by  the  king  of  Thomond  and 
the  fighting  archbishop,  Lawrence,  Roderick  laid 
siege  to  Dublin.  He  entirely  failed,  however,  to  dis- 
lodge the  Normans,  and  was  forced  to  be  content 
with  capturing  Wexford  from  them.  A  year  passed, 
with  varying  fortunes  to  the  invaders  and  the  invaded. 
In  the  spring  Dermid  died  of  a  complication  of  dis- 
eases ;  and  Strongbow  attemped,  in  vain,  to  assert  his 
strongbow's  claim  to  the  throne  of  Leinster.  He  suf- 
defeats.  fercd  3.  succcssion  of  defeats,  in  the  most 

important  of  which,  that  at  Thurles,  the  Normans 
lost  nearly  two  thousand  men.  Strongbow  was  forced 
to  seek  safety,  with  the  rest  of  his  army,  within  the 
walls  of  Waterford,  where  he  contented  himself  with 
holding  sway  over  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
that  stronghold. 

Events  in  Ireland  had  been  watched  for  some  time, 
with  growing  anxiety,  by  the  English  king.  He  had 
permitted  his  knights  to  enlist  under  Dermid  and 
Strongbow,  and  was  well  content  with  the  prospect 
King  Henry  of  adding  Ireland  to  his  dominions.  But 
alarmed.  j^Q^y  Hcnry  began  to  fear  that  if  the  am^ 
bitious  Strongbow  succeeded  in  conquering  the 
island,  he  would  set  himself  up  as  its  independent 
king,  and  would  then  altogether  renounce  his    alle- 


THE    INVASION    OF    THE    NORMANS.  55 

giance  to  the  English  crown.  Accordingly  Henry 
sent  word  to  the  Norman  knights  in  Ireland,  that  they 
must  at  once  return  to  England.  Perhaps  Strong- 
bow  and  his  comrades  were  not  sorry  to  receive  this 
command ;  for,  when  it  came,  their  situation  was 
serious  if  not  desperate.  The  Irish  had  at  last  as- 
serted their  superior  strength,  and  the  only  strong- 
holds left  to  the  Normans  were  in  danger  of  being 
taken  by  the  aroused  natives.  Strongbow,  therefore, 
promptly  obeyed  the  king,  crossed  over  to  England, 
and  received  the  royal  pardon. 

Henry  now  resolved  that  he  would  put  forth  all 
the  strength  of  his  English  kingdom  to  subdue  Ire- 
land. He  was  a  warlike  prince,  and  greedy  of  con- 
quest ;  and  he  determined  to  lead  his  forces  in  person. 
An  army  of  four  hundred  knights  and  four  thousand 
men-at-arms  crossed  the  channel,  being  conveyed  to 
the  Irish  coast  by  a  fleet  of  two  hundred   „      ,   . 

J  Henry  s  m- 

and  forty  ships.  Henry  easily  effected  a  vasion  of 
landing  at  Waterford,  which  still  remained 
in  Norman  hands  (ii/i).  The  chiefs  of  southern 
Ireland  were  awed  by  the  display  of  so  imposing  an 
array  of  well-trained,  well-armed,  and  valiant  soldiers. 
King  Roderick  was  away  in  the  north,  engaged  in 
a  conflict  with  the  princes  of  Ulster.  The  Irish 
were  divided  and  distracted  by  the  quarrels  of  rival 
chiefs.  It  seemed  that  no  force  adequate  to  cope 
with  the  English  king  could  be  got  together.  The 
power  conferred  by  the  pope  upon  Henry  to  take 
Ireland,    moreover,    checked    the   patriotism    of   the 


56  YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 

Irish  clergy,  and  dampered  the  ardor  of  the  Irish 
leaders. 

One  after  another,  the  princes  of  southern  Ireland 

gave  in  their  submission  to  the  English  monarch. 

The  example  was  set  by  McCarthy,  kino^ 

Victory  of  .  -^ »  £> 

the  Anglo-  of  Cork,  who  repaired  to  Waterford,  swore 
Normans.  allcgiancc  to  Hcury,  and  surrendered  Cork 
to  a  Norman  garrison.  O'Brien  of  Thomond,  Don- 
chad  of  Ossory,  and  O'Phelan  of  Decies,  followed  in 
his  wake.  Henry  made  a  bloodless  march  into  the 
interior,  planted  garrisons  at  Cashel  and  Tipperary, 
and  entered  Dublin  in  triumph.  The  chiefs  of  Lein- 
ster  and  Munster  kept  coming  in,  and  accepting  the 
English  yoke.  Roderick,  with  little  capacity  for  war 
on  a  large  scale,  was  forced  to  remain  sullenly  west 
of  the  Shannon ;  but  while  he  made  no  vigorous 
attempt  to  dislodge  the  English,  he  never  submitted 
to  their  rule  in  Ireland.  The  heroic  chiefs  of  Ulster, 
^^    «,.T  .,     too,  the  ancient  royal  race  of  O'Neil,  and 

The  O'Neils  '  -^  ' 

refuse  to  the  sturdy  house  of  O'Donnel,  refused  to 
submit.  yield   to   the   invader,   and,   for  centuries 

after,  held  out  against  every  effort  of  the  English  to 
subdue  them. 


THE  ENGLISH  SETTLEMENT  OF  IRELAND.     5/ 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  ENGLISH  SETTLEMENT  OF  IRELAND. 

HENRY  the  Second  celebrated  his  victory  by 
holding  brilliant  Christmas  festivities  in  Dub- 
lin. Gathered  about  him  was  a  gay  array  of  valiant 
Norman  knights,  whose  armor  and  attire  Festivities 
dazzled  the  natives,  and  who,  in  their  *"  Dublin, 
elegance,  displayed  a  marked  contrast  to  the  ruder 
Irish  chiefs.  Most  of  the  Irish  wore,  instead  of 
mail,  orange-colored  and  saffron  shirts.  Instead  of 
long  bows,  they  carried  javelins,  spears,  and  battle- 
axes.  Henry  soon  turned  from  revels  and  rejoi- 
cings to  serious  work.  He  was  a  very  able  states- 
man, as  well  as  an  energetic  warrior.  He  set  to 
himself  the  task  of  establishing  his  authority  in  Ire- 
land. He  refused  to  confirm  Strongbow  as  king  of 
Leinster,  and  he  took  away  the  lands  which  had 
been  sciven  by  Dermid  to  Strongbow  and   ^  ,   ^    ,. 

o  J  o  Introduction 

his  companions  ;  giving  them  back  to  them,   of  the  feudal 
however,  as  their  feudal  chief.     This  was   ^y^*^™- 
the  first   step    taken   by  Henry  in   introducing   the 
feudal  system  into  Ireland. 

He  then  proceeded  to  plant  in  the  Irish  districts 


58  YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 

over  which  he  held  sway,  EngHsh  laws  and  institu- 
tions. He  did  not  require  the  native  Irish,  however, 
to  submit  to  English  laws,  but  allowed  the  ancient 
Brehon  laws  to  remain  in  force  among  them.  The 
English  laws  were  only  imposed  on  the  Normans  and 
English  who  established  themselves  in  the  country. 
The  king  appointed  marshals,  justiciaries,  constables, 
chamberlains,  and  other  officers,  to  act  in  Ireland. 
He  divided  the  portions  of  the  island  under  his  con- 
„       ,  trol  into  counties,  and  appointed  sheriffs 

Henry  s  gov  '  '-  '^ 

ernment  in  to  scrvc  in  them.  Hc  crcatcd  three  great 
law-courts, — the  King's  Bench,  the  Com- 
mon Pleas,  and  the  Exchequer,  —  corresponding  to  the 
courts  of  the  same  name  in  England.  He  appointed 
a  lord-chief-justice,  a  chancellor,  and  a  treasurer. 
He  also  created  the  office  of  viceroy,  the  holder 
of  which  should  act  as  supreme  governor  of  Ireland 
durins:  the  kins^'s  absence.  He  filled  all  the  offices 
with  his  own  Norman  adherents,  and  put  all  the 
military  strongholds  under  the  command  of  Norman 
soldiers. 

Henry  knew  how  important  it  was  to  win  the  sub- 
mission of  the  Christian  bishops  and  clergy  to  his 
rule.  Their  hold  upon  the  reverence  and  affection 
of  the  people  was  a  strong  one.  By  conciliating 
them,  he  would  be  strengthening  his  own  power  in 
Ireland.  The  bishops  and  clergy  were  already  in- 
clined towards  him,  out  of  respect  to  the  papal  bull 
under  which  he  had  claimed  the  right  to  invade  Ire- 
land.    Henry  summoned  an  assembly  of  bishops  and 


THE  ENGLISH  SETTLEMENT  OF  IRELAND,     59 

priests  at  Cashel,  and  declared  to  them,  that   hence- 
forth  the  church-lands  should  be  exempt 

The  church. 

from  confiscation  or  taxation  ;  that  the 
priesthood  should  be  relieved  of  certain  fines  ;  and 
that  the  people  should  be  compelled  to  pay  tithes  for 
the  support  of  the  church.  A  large  majority  of  the 
bishops  and  priests  thereupon  accepted  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  English  king,  and  exercised  their 
influence  in  securing  his  authority  in  the  island. 

But  by  far  the  most  important  acts  of  Henry  in 
Ireland  were  those  by  which  he  dealt  with  the  lands, 
and  attempted  to  replace  the  ancient  tenure  and 
division  of  lands  by  the  feudal  system.  According  to 
the  old  Irish  custom,  the  lands  had  been  r-.  „  „    „ 

'  Lnanges  in 

held  by  each  tribe  in  common.  Then  the  the  tenure  of 
princes  and  chiefs  had  acquired  possession 
of  large  tracts,  which  were  tilled  by  the  peasantry 
and  the  slaves.  But  still  the  lands  were  supposed  to 
be  derived,  not  from  a  sovereign  or  prince,  but  from 
the  tribe  as  a  whole.  The  feudal  system  was  directly 
the  opposite  of  this.  By  the  feudal  system,  all  the 
land  of  a  country  was  supposed  to  be  owned  by  the 
king.  He  claimed  the  right  to  divide  it  up,  and  give 
portions  of  it,  as  he  pleased,  to  his  knights  and 
courtiers.  In  return  for  these  grants  of  land,  the 
knights  and  courtiers  agreed  to  give  military  aid,  at 
the  head  of  their  retainers,  to  the  king  in  time  of 
war.  So,  too,  the  knights  and  courtiers  divided  up 
the  domain  thus  acquired,  and  distributed  it  among 
their  followers,  who  in  their  turn  agreed  to  follow 


60  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

their  lords  to  the  field  whenever  summoned.  The 
lands  became  hereditary  in  the  families  which  held 
them,  and  the  military  services  owed  for  them  be- 
came hereditary  also. 

Henry  really  had  no  right,  either  to  the  sovereignty 
of  Ireland,  or  to  the  disposal  of  the  Irish  lands.  His 
claim  was  founded  upon  the  pope's  authority,  which 
had  no  basis  in  law.  His  dominion  in  Ireland  was 
purely  and  simply  the  result  of  superior  physical 
force.  And  in  order  to  establish  his  power,  he  for- 
cibly imposed  the  feudal  system  upon  the  conquered 
race.  He  thus  laid  the  foundation  for  those  land 
„    .    .      ,  troubles  in  Ireland  which   have  continued 

Beginning  of 

land  trou-  froui  thc  time  of  his  invasion  down  to  the 
present  day.  He  began  by  taking  lands 
away  from  the  native  Irish,  and  giving  them  into  the 
hands  of  Norman  and  English  foreigners.  These 
became  the  landlords  ;  while  the  native  Irish  became 
their  tenants,  and  the  humble  tillers  of  the  soil.  The 
descendants  of  the  Normans  and  English  continued 
to  be  the  owners  and  masters,  and  the  descendants 
of  the  Celtic  population  continued  to  be  their  serfs. 
In  later  centuries,  more  and  more  lands  were  taken 
from  the  Irish  by  succeeding  English  monarchs,  and 
handed  over  to  their  English  followers,  soldiers,  and 
favorites.  In  this  way,  in  the  course  of  time,  grew 
up  the  unjust  and  cruel  land-system  in  Ireland, 
which  survived  to  our  own  time. 

The  whole  of  the  ancient  royal  domain  of  Meath, 
where  the  kings  of  all  Ireland  had  reigned  so  long 


THE  ENGLISH  SETTLEMENT  OF  IRELAND.     6l 

in  power  and  renown,  was   given  by  Henry  to  the 
Norman  lord,  Hugh  de  Lacy.     Ulster  was  The  domain 
awarded  to  John    de  Courcy ;  but  owing  °^  Meath. 
to  the  obstinate  resistance  of  the  O'Neils,  the  O'Don- 
nels,  and  other  sturdy  Ulster  chiefs,  De  Courcy  never 
succeeded    in    getting   possession    of    the    province. 
Cork  was  given  up  to  Fitz-Stephen  and  De  Cogan, 
Limerick  to  De  Braosa,  Decies  to  Le  Poer,  Water- 
ford  to  De  Bohun,  Wexford  to  Fitzgerald  and  Mont- 
morres,    Connaught    to    Fitz-Aldelm.       The    city  of 
Dublin  was  awarded  to  the  English  town  of  Bristol. 
The  Normans  lost  no  time  in  making  raids  to  seize 
the   lands    thus    granted,    and    planted    settlements 
and  forts  wherever  they  could  get  a  foothold.     They 
swarmed    through    the   fertile   valleys    of   the    Irish 
rivers,    and    established    themselves    on    the    broad 
plains  of  Louth  and  Meath.     All  along  the  eastern 
coast  the  Normans  effected  lodgements,  as  settlement 
the    Danes    had    done    centuries    before,   of  the 
Thus  the   new-comers  occupied  and   held     "^  '^ 
the  lands   awarded  to  them   by  the  king,  by  sheer 
force.     Every  Irishman  who  resisted  them  was  con- 
demned as  a  traitor.     No  mercy  was  shown  to  the 
native  ''  rebels." 

If  a  tribe  whose  domain  had  thus  been  seized 
resisted,  it  was  promptly  driven  from  the  soil  on 
which  it  had  dwelt  from  time  immemorial.  The 
Irish  who  remained  became  peasant  tillers  of  the 
land  which  had  lately  been  their  own,  were  forced 
to  pay  rent  for  it,  and  were  subject  to  being  expelled 


62  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

from  it  at  the  will  or  sudden  caprice  of  the  new 
possessors.  But,  after  all,  Henry  had  only  succeeded 
in  establishing  his  actual  rule  over  a  small  portion  of 
Ireland.  He  held  Limerick,  Cork,  Waterford,  Wex- 
ford, and  Dublin,  and  a  certain  region  of  country 
roundabout  those  places,  with  his  garrisons  and  sol- 
....     ,       diery.     Outside  these  limits,  his  dominion 

Limits  of  J  ' 

English  was   rather  nominal  than  a  reality.     The 

dominion.  .  r     -r-"        i  •    i  •         t       i         i 

centre  ot  hnglish  power  m  Ireland  was 
Dublin,  and  a  certain  territory  in  its  neighborhood, 
comprising  the  counties  of  Dublin,  Kildare,  Meath, 
and  Louth.  This  territory  came  to  be  known  as  the 
''English  Pale,"  —  a  name  which  it  retained  for  a 
long  period.  It  was  over  four  hundred  years,  indeed, 
before  the  power  of  the  English  became  permanently 
established  in  Ireland,  beyond  the  region  described 
as  the  Pale. 

King  Henry  only  remained  in  Ireland  seven 
months.  He  was  suddenly  called  away  on  a  seri- 
ous errand.  Thomas  a  Becket,  archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, had  been  killed  before  the  altar  of  his  own 
cathedral  by  some  of  Henry's  knights.  The  king, 
suspected  of  having  connived  at  the  crime,  was 
summoned  to  explain  it  to  the  envoys  of  the  pope, 
strongbow  who  wcrc  in  France.  He  left  Strongbow 
in  command.  ^5  viccroy,  or  govcmor,  of  Ireland ;  and 
Strongbow  continued  the  struggle  to  subdue  the 
native  Irish.  The  warfare  between  the  Normans  and 
the  Irish  went  on  incessantly.  Ulster  and  Connaught 
held  out  persistently  against  the  intruders,  who  often 


THE  ENGLISH  SETTLEMENT  OF  IRELAND.     63 

sallied  forth  from  their  strongholds  in  the  Pale,  only 
to  be  driven  back  before  the  fiery  though  undisci- 
plined valor  of  the  Irish.  Strongbow's  career  as 
viceroy  was  full  of  ups  and  downs.  He  still  asserted 
his  claim  to  the  crown  of  Ulster  ;  but  this  was  stoutly 
resisted  by  Donald  *'  the  Handsome,"  son  of  the  late 
king,  Dermid.  Strongbow,  enraged  at  this,  caused 
one  of  Donald's  sons,  whom  he  held  as  a  hostage,  to 
be  put  to  death. 

Then  began  a  fierce  and  vindictive  struggle  be- 
tween the  two  claimants  to  the  Leinster  throne ;  and, 
from  this  time  forth,  Stron2:bow's  fortunes  ^    ,   ,  , 

'  <3  Contest  for 

began  to  wane.  Donald  inflicted  a  severe  the  throne 
defeat  upon  him  ;  and,  in  the  following  year  °  ^'"^  "' 
(11 74),  Strongbow  was  confronted  at  Thurles  by  the 
army  of  the  arch-king  Roderick,  allied  with  a  power- 
ful chief,  Donald  O'Brien.  The  viceroy  was  utterly 
routed,  leaving  more  than  a  thousand  of  his  Norman 
warriors  dead  on  the  field.  He  fled  within  the  walls 
of  Dublin  with  the  remnant  of  his  force,  to  find 
there  that  his  garrison  had  been  slaughtered  by  the 
people.  While  his  condition  was  thus  desperate, 
Strongbow  was  suddenly  ordered  by  Henry  to  join 
him  in  France.  He  soon  returned  to  Ireland,  how- 
ever, with  new  powers.  He  made  his  peace  with  the 
powerful  family  of  Geraldine,  whom  he  had  alienated 
from  him  by  his  jealousy  of  them,  giving  his  sister 
in  marriage  to  Maurice  Fitzgerald,  the  chief  of  the 
family. 

For  a  little,  the  fortunes  of  war  turned  in  favor  of 


64  YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 

Strongbow.  He  retook  Limerick,  strengthened  the 
defences  of  Waterford,  and  probably  caused  his  rival, 
Donald,  to  be  murdered.  But  now  the  sturdy  war- 
rior, who  had  fought  so  obstinately  to  subdue  the 
Irish,  was  attacked  by  a  fatal  disorder.  His  foot 
became  ulcerated,  and  he  lingered  in  a  long  and 
strongbow's  agouiziug  illucss.  He  died  nine  years 
death.  after  his  first  arrival  in  Ireland,  and  was 

buried,  with  much  pomp,  in  Christ  Church,  Dublin 
(ii 77).  Thus  passed  away  the  most  redoubtable  of 
Ireland's  Norman  enemies.  The  name  of  Strongbow 
still  recalls  to  Irish  minds  the  beginning  of  the  seven 
centuries  of  English  dominion.  In  the  same  year 
died  Strongbow's  brother-in-law,  the  brilliant  Maurice 
Fitzgerald,  who  had  so  long  been  his  companion  in 
arms.  Fitzgerald  was  the  ancestor  of  a  long  line  of 
nobles,  who  became  the  heads  of  the  two  branches 
of  the  powerful  Geraldine  family,  the  earls  of  Des- 
mond and  Kildare. 

Roderick  O'Connor,  the  arch-king  of  Ireland,  had 
been  able  to  hold  his  own  against  the  Normans  west 
King  of  the  river  Shannon,  and  had  even  gained 

Roderick.  somc  victorics  ovcr  their  armies.  But  he 
had  not  been  able  to  attempt  their  expulsion  from 
Irish  soil.  He  was  a  brave  and  patriotic,  but  unfor- 
tunate, prince.  He  was  constantly  called  upon  to 
fight  with  the  jealous  rival  chiefs  of  the  north  and 
west.  In  the  hour  of  his  perplexities  his  own  sons 
turned  against  him,  just  as  the  sons  of  the  English 
Henry  had  by  this  time  become  their  father's  foes 


THE  ENGLISH  SETTLEMENT  OF  IRELAND.     65 

on  the  battle-field.  Roderick  was  at  last  compelled 
to  seek  a  sort  of  alliance  with  the  English  con- 
queror. He  accordingly  sent  envoys,  among  them 
the  devout  St.  Lawrence,  to  Henry,  and  Treaty  with 
made  a  treaty  with  him  (1177).  This  ^'"^  Henry, 
compact  was  called  the  treaty  of  Windsor,  because 
it  was  signed  in  that  royal  town.  By  its  provisions, 
Henry  recognized  Roderick  as  king  of  all  Ireland, 
outside  the  places  actually  held  by  the  English.  In 
return,  Roderick  acknowledged  Henry  as  his  "lord 
paramount,"  agreed  to  pay  a  certain  annual  tribute 
of  hides,  and  stipulated  that  the  chiefs  under  him 
should  every  year  present  to  the  English  king  a 
certain  number  of  hawks  and  hounds.  But,  as  a 
result  of  the  events  which  ensued,  this  treaty  was 
never  fully  carried  out. 


66  YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    NORMAN    KNIGHTS. 

THE  last  years  of  the  arch-king,  Roderick  O'Con- 
nor, were  imbittered  by  the  hostihty  and  trea- 
son of  his  own  sons.  His  eldest  son,  Murray,  joined 
hands  with  the  Norman  knight,  De  Cogan,  and  with 
him  marched  through  central  Ireland,  spreading 
havoc  and  burning  villages  as  he  went.  The  na- 
tive tribes  fled  in  dismay  before  him.  But  at  last, 
near  Tuam,  the  Irish  turned  at  bay  upon  their  treach- 
erous prince  and  his  Norman  ally.  Murray  was 
^  ,       ,       forced  to  retreat ;  but  it  was  too  late.     A 

Defeat  of 

Murray  host  of  Irish,  led  by  Murray's  own  kins- 

o  Connor.  ^len,  fell  upon  the  allied  force,  which  was 
soon  scattered  in  every  direction.  Murray  himself 
was  taken,  and  his  eyes  were  put  out  as  the  penalty 
of  his  perfidy.  Then  Roderick's  younger  son,  Conor, 
was  declared  to  be  the  heir  to  the  Irish  throne. 
There  soon  broke  out  a  desperate  struggle  between 
the  princes  of  the  royal  house,  which  resulted  in 
much  slaughter  on  both  sides,  but  in  no  decisive 
triumph  for  either. 

Conor  now  treated  his  father,  the  arch-king,  with 


THE    NORMAN    KNIGHTS.  6^ 

cruel  severity.  He  at  first  banished  him  into  south- 
ern Ireland,  but  afterwards  allowed  him  to  live  on  a 
small  farm  in  the  midst  of  his  own  clan.  Roderick 
was  old,  and  weary  of  the  world.  In  a  short  time  he 
retired  to  a  monastery  founded  by  the  early  Chris- 
tians at  Cong,  on  Lough  Mask.  In  this  monastery, 
the  aged  monarch  gave  himself  up  to  religious  ex- 
ercises, and  reflected  mournfully  on  his  Death  of 
many  misfortunes.  He  died  at  the  mon-  Roderick, 
astery  in  his  eighty-second  year  (1198),  and  was 
quietly  buried  in  the  royal  tomb  of  Clonmacnoise. 
Thus  passed  away  the  last  prince  fully  entitled  to 
wear  the  crown  of  all  Ireland.  With  Roderick  the 
long  line  of  ''ard-righ,"  or  arch-kings,  ended.  The 
task  of  defending  Ireland  from  her  formidable  Nor- 
man foes  was  too  great  for  Roderick's  powers.  He 
was  brave  and  patriotic,  but  could  not  cope  at  once 
with  the  rebellions  of  Irish  princes,  and  the  assaults 
of  foreign  invaders. 

Meanwhile,  Strongbow  had  been  succeeded  in  the 
command  of  Ireland  by  an  indolent  knight,  Fitz 
Aldelm.  But  among  the  Normans  who  surrounded 
him  was  a  stalwart  noble,  full  of  restless  energy. 
This  was  John  de  Courcy,  a  descendant  john  de 
of  kings,  as  proud  as  he  was  valiant.  It  Courcy. 
has  already  been  stated  that  De  Courcy  had  received 
the  province  of  Ulster  as  his  appanage  from  the 
English  king.  He  now  resolved  to  attempt  its  con- 
quest. Many  of  his  fellow-knights,  eager  for  warfare, 
and  impatient  of  their  idle  life  at  Dublin,  joined  his 


68  YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 

standard.  De  Courcy  set  forth  at  the  head  of  a  force 
of  five  hundred  men.  He  encountered  and  defeated 
a  native  army  at  Howth,  and  then  marched  on  Down- 
patrick.  There  was  an  ancient  tradition  that  this 
town  would  be  captured  by  a  knio^ht  who 

De  Courcy  .  . 

takes  Down-  had  birds  upon  his  shield,  and  who  rode  a 
patnck.  white  horsc.     It  happened  that  a  bird  was 

on  the  armorial  crest  of  De  Courcy,  and  De  Courcy 
also  appeared  on  a  white  horse.  The  people  of 
Downpatrick,  terrified  by  these  omens,  speedily  sub- 
mitted ;  and  De  Courcy  entered  the  town. 

The  warfare  between  the  invaders  of  Ulster  and 
its  Irish  defenders  lasted  for  several  years.  Some- 
times one  side,  and  sometimes  the  other,  triumphed. 
In  course  of  time,  De  Courcy  acquired  a  strong  hold 
upon  various  places  on  the  Ulster  coast.  He  for- 
tified Lecale  and  the  Ardes,  built  castles  on  the 
shores  of  Strangford  Lake,  and  made  some  expedi- 
tions into  the  interior.  But  the  greater  part  of 
Ulster  remained  unconquered.  The  heroic  tribe  of 
O'Neil  held  out  sturdily,  and  to  the  last 

Resistance  -' 

of  the  resisted  De  Courcy's  attempt  to  carry  his 

o  Neils.         j.^1^  ^^^^  ^1^^  entire  province ;  while  the 

lesser  chiefs,  for  the  while,  composed  their  differ- 
ences in  the  face  of  the  danger  from  a  common  foe. 
Even  when  De  Courcy  gained  a  foothold  in  the  in- 
terior, he  was  so  constantly  harassed  by  bold  bands 
of  the  Ulster  Irish,  that  he  was  often  forced  to  give 
way,  and  retire  to  the  seaboard. 

The  English  king,  Henry,  was  especially  fond  of 


De  Courcv  entering  Downpatrick.  —  Page  68. 


THE    NORMAN    KNIGHTS.  69 

his  youngest  son,  John,  —  the  same  John  who  after- 
wards became  king  of  England,  and  was  forced  by 
the  barons  to  sign  the  ''great  charter"  of  his  people's 
liberties.  It  is  thought  by  some  historians  that  one 
of  Henry's  reasons  for  wishing  to  conquer  Ireland 
was,  that  he  might  provide  John  with  a  kingdom  to 
himself.  John  was  a  youth  of  eighteen  years.  He 
was  wilful,  heartless,  and  cruel,  even  at  that  early 
age.  In  spite,  however,  of  his  youth  and  Prince  john 
bad  qualities,  Henry  now  sent  him  across  ^"  Ireland. 
St.  George's  Channel,  with  the  title  and  powers  of 
"Lord  of  Ireland."  Scarcely  had  John  set  foot  on 
the  island,  before  he  began  to  conduct  himself  in 
such  a  way  as  to  inspire  the  hatred  of  the  Irish,  and 
the  contempt  even  of  the  English.  He  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  company  of  dissolute  and  reckless 
young  nobles,  whose  society  was  more  congenial  to 
him  than  was  that  of  the  grave  statesmen  whom  his 
father  had  sent  to  advise  him. 

When  John  landed  at  Waterford  (1185),  he  was 
met  by  the  English  archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  a 
large  number  of  knights  in  costly  array.  These  were 
attended,  also,  by  some  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Leinster 
clans  who  had  submitted  to  the  English,  and  now 
came  to  pay  homage  to  their  new  ruler.  These  chiefs 
advanced  to  meet  the  prince  with  grave  John's  odious 
dignity,  in  order  to  give  him,  according  to  conduct. 
an  old  Irish  custom,  the  kiss  of  peace.  John  laughed 
insolently  in  their  faces.  He  caught  hold  of  their 
beards,  and  roughly  pulled  them,  and  made  sport  of 


/O  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

their  attire.  The  Leinster  chiefs,  outraged  by  this 
insult,  abruptly  retired  to  their  homes.  John  was 
scarcely  less  insulting  in  his  bearing  towards  the 
English  knights,  by  whom  he  presently  became  as 
intensely  detested  as  he  was  by  the  Irish.  He  spent 
his  days  in  reckless  pleasures,  and  thus  wasted  the 
time  which  was  to  have  been  spent  in  military  cam- 
paigns. He  caused  a  number  of  castles  to  be  built ; 
but  these  were  assailed  by  the  Irish  chiefs,  and  sev- 
successes  of  cral  of  them  were  captured.  The  bold 
Irish  chiefs.  Donald  O'Brien  took  the  largest  castle, 
that  of  Ardfinan  ;  while  Lismore  was  also  seized  by 
the  native  bands.  John's  rule,  indeed,  was  dis- 
astrous on  every  hand ;  and  he  was  at  last  reluctantly 
called  back  to  England  by  his  royal  father. 

A  famous,  strong-willed  English  cavalier,  Hugh 
de  Lacy,  had  held  for  a  short  time  a  high  place 
in  Ireland, — that  of  constable, — before  John's  ar- 
rival. He  had  been  recalled  by  the  king,  who  now 
sent  him  back  to  Ireland  again  to  take  the  chief 
The  consta-  commaud.  De  Lacy  is  described  by  the 
bieDeLacy.  q^^  writcrs  as  being  short  of  stature, 
deformed,  with  large,  dark,  piercing  eyes,  and  forbid- 
ding features.  He  was  very  covetous  of  power,  as 
well  as  of  riches.  During  his  previous  sojourn  in 
Ireland  he  had  been  guilty  of  many  misdeeds,  one 
of  which  had  never  been  forgotten  or  forgiven  by 
the  Irish.  He  had  enticed  Tiernan  O'Rourke,  lord 
of  West  Meath,  one  of  the  bravest  of  the  native 
chiefs,  to  meet  him  on  a  lonely  hill  for  a  peaceful 


THE    NORMAN    KNIGHTS.  /I 

conference  ;  and  had  there  caused  him  to  be  murdered. 
Soon  after  his  return  to  take  John's  place,  he  married 
the  daughter  of  O'Connor,  a  powerful  Irish  noble. 

De    Lacy's   violent    tyranny    soon    made    him   as 
heartily  hated  as  John   had  been.      He  seized  and 
sacked    monasteries    and    churches,    and   De  Lacy's 
appropriated  their  wealth  to  his  own  use.   ty^^^y- 
He  took  a  fancy,   among  other  things,   to  convert 
the  ancient  monastery  of  Durrow,  which  had  been 
founded  centuries  before  by  the  sainted  Columbkill, 
into  a  castle  for  his  own  residence.     This  was  looked 
upon  by  the  Irish  as  a  desecration  of  the  sacred  edi- 
fice.    One  day,  as  De  Lacy  was  standing  on  the  walls, 
inspecting  the  alterations  which  his  workmen  were 
making  on  the  monastery,  a  daring  young  Irishman 
of  noble  family,  named  O'Meyey,  suddenly  attacked 
him  from  behind.     With  one  mighty  blow  Murder  of 
of  his  axe,  he  completely  severed  the  ty-  ^^  ^^^y* 
rant's  head  from  his  body.     O'Meyey  fled  into  the 
neighboring  forest,  and   safely  escaped.     The   Irish 
rejoiced  at  the  death  of  a  man  who  had  so  cruelly 
used  them,  and  were  glad  that  the  fate  to  which  he 
had  doomed  O'Rourke  had  now  befallen  him  also. 

The  English  king,  Henry  the  Second,  died  (1189) 
after  a  long  and  brilliant  reign,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  warlike  son,  Richard  the  First  (the  *'  Lion- 
hearted").  Throughout  his  brief  reign  of  ten  years, 
Richard  was  almost  continually  absent  King 
from  his  kingdom,  either  at  the  crusades,  R>chard. 
or  engaged  in  fighting  the  French.     The  English  in 


^2  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

Ireland  were  therefore,  during  that  period,  left  to 
shift  for  themselves.  Of  all  the  cavaliers  who  re- 
mained on  Irish  soil,  the  boldest  and  most  ambitious 
was  De  Courcy.  He  professed  to  be  very  pious.  He 
carried  about  with  him  certain  writings  of  Columbkill, 
and  took  great  care  to  guard  and  preserve  the  relics 
of  some  of  the  Irish  saints.  Yet  he  did  not  pause 
in  his  attempts  to  subdue  the  Irish  of  Ulster,  and 
also  of  Connaught,  to  his  sway.  In  spite,  however, 
of  the  feuds  which  so  often  arose  to  divide  the  Irish 
princes,  even  De  Courcy's  prowess  did  not  avail  to 
greatly  extend  the  limits  of  his  dominion.  In  a 
Defeat  of  great  battle  fought  in  Connaught,  De 
De  Courcy.  Courcy  was  routed  by  an  allied  force  of 
Irishmen  of  Connaught,  Ulster,  and  Munster,  under 
the  valiant  Donald  O'Brien,  and  was  forced  to  retire 
once  more  to  his  eastern  strongholds. 

For  ten  years,  Ireland  was  the  scene  of  almost 
perpetual  carnage.  Conor,  the  son  of  Roderick,  the 
arch-king,  was  assassinated  by  his  cousins ;  and  the 
old  fires  of  jealousy  and  rivalry  broke  out  among 
the  princes  with  all  their  former  fury.  The  English 
allied  themselves,  now  with  one  chief,  now  with 
another,  taking  advantage  of  their  fierce  dissensions 
as  occasion  offered.  The  fortunes  of  war  varied 
from  month  to  month.  The  unhappy  people  were 
desolated  by  all  these  conflicts,  yet  they  sturdily 
resisted  the  attempts  of  the  English  to  possess 
themselves  of  the  domain.  The  new  landlords,  even 
when  they  had  effected  a  lodgement,  were  continually 


THE    NORMAN    KNIGHTS.  73 

harassed  by  the  inhabitants,  and  only  held  their  own 
by  the  superior  force  of  arms.  Whenever  an  English 
lord  of  the  soil  became  weak  in  defence,  the  ven- 
geance of  the  people  fell  quickly  and  savagely  upon 
him.  Meanwhile,  the  two  different  systems  of  law 
—  the  Norman,  or  English,  and  the  ancient  Irish  — 
were  put  in  force  side  by  side,  and  created  confusion  of 
endless  confusion.  In  the  English  Pale,  ^^^^• 
if  an  Irishman  killed  an  Englishman,  his  punishment 
was  death.  But  in  those  parts  of  the  country  where 
the  Brehon,  or  old  Irish,  law,  prevailed,  an  English- 
man who  killed  an  Irishman,  only  had  to  pay  a  fine. 
Similar  differences  ran  all  through  the  two  codes, 
that  of  the  Irish  being  always  the  more  gentle  of 
the  two. 

Just  as  the  reign  of  Richard  the  First  was  coming 
to  a  close,  a  great  Irish  hero  arose,  in  the  person  of 
Cathal  O'Connor.  Cathal's  life  had  been  a  romantic 
one  from  his  childhood.  He  was  a  younger  half- 
brother  of  the  arch-king  Roderick,  but  was  illegiti- 
mate. He  therefore  became,  when  a  mere  babe,  the 
object  of  the  hatred  of  the  jealous  Irish  queen.  His 
mother  fled  with  him  for  refuge  in  the  monasteries, 
and  Cathal  spent  his  boyhood  as  a  farm-  cathai  of 
laborer.  One  day,  when  he  was  reaping  connaught. 
wheat  in  a  field,  he  heard  of  events  which  opened 
the  way  to  his  return  to  his  native  Connaught. 
"  Farewell,  sickle  !  "  he  exclaimed,  throwing  it  down, 
"now  for  the  sword!"  He  entered  vigorously  into 
the  conflict  which  was  raging  in  Connaught,  and  dis- 


74  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY   OF    IRELAND. 

played  a  fiery  valor  which  inspired  his  adherents  to 
heroic  deeds.  The  death  of  Donald  O'Brien,  who 
had  fought  so  obstinately  against  the  English,  left 
Cathal  the  foremost  of  Irish  warriors.  He  made 
alliances  with  powerful  chiefs,  and  soothed  the  dis- 
cords which  had  doomed  Ireland  to  so  many  misfor- 
tunes. Just  as  the  twelfth  centuiy  was  closing, 
Cathal  was  able  to  declare  himself  king  of  Connaught, 
and  to  maintain  his  title  by  a  stout  defence. 

The  base  and  cruel  John  had  now  ascended  the 
English  throne,  and  soon  made  extensive  grants  of 
King  John's  land  in  Connaught  to  his  English  followers, 
accession.  Chief  among  the  knights  thus  favored 
were  De  Courcy  and  De  Burgh.  But  they  could  not 
conquer  the  territories  which  John  had  given  them  ; 
and,  soon  after  this,  De  Courcy,  who  had  proved  so 
persistent  and  redoubtable,  disappears  altogether 
from  the  scenes  of  his  exploits  in  Ireland.  We  find, 
however,  the  descendants  of  these  early  English 
knights,  who  contended  so  stoutly  for  the  possession 
of  Irish  land,  to  this  day  surviving  as  nobles  and 
landlords.  The  descendant  of  De  Courcy  is  baron 
Kinsale,  who  has  the  privilege  of  wearing  his  hat  in 
presence  of  the  English  sovereign,  —  a  privilege 
accorded  to  an  ancestor  as  the  reward  of  some  ser- 
vice to  the  crown.  The  Burkes,  lords  of  Clanricarde, 
spring  from  the  sturdy  stock  of  De  Burgh  ;  and  both 
families  hold  both  Irish  titles  and  Irish  lands  in  our 
own  time. 


THE    BRUGES    IN    IRELAND.  75 


CHAPTER   XL 

THE    BRUGES    IN    IRELAND. 

ABOUT  fifteen  years  after  his  first  sojourn  in 
Ireland,  John,  now  king  of  England,  paid  a  sec- 
ond visit  to  that  country.  But  this  time  he  went 
over,  less  for  the  purpose  of  conquering  the  Irish, 
than  to  curb  the  too  rapidly  growing  power  and  inde- 
pendence of  the  great  Norman-English  lords.  John's 
acts  on  this  second  visit  were  wiser  than  King  John  in 
those  he  had  committed  during  his  first  so-  ^^eian^^- 
journ  in  Ireland.  He  arrived  with  a  large  fleet,  which 
is  said,  by  some  historians,  to  have  comprised  no  less 
than  seven  hundred  vessels  ;  and  his  first  proceeding 
was  to  subdue  the  haughty  De  Lacys,  who  had  as- 
sumed a  sort  of  royal  power  in  Meath.  The  De 
Lacys  were  soon  overcome,  and,  flying  from  point  to 
point,  at  last  took  refuge  in  Scotland.  Later,  how- 
ever, they  came  to  terms  with  John,  who  restored 
them  to  their  Irish  domains  upon  the  payment  by 
them  of  large  tributes.  John  also  made  a  treaty  with 
the  valorous  Cathal,  king  of  Connaught,  by  which 
the  latter  was  secured  in  a  part,  at  least,  of  his  patri- 
mony.    Cathal  fought  doughtily  against  the  De  Lacys 


^6  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

and  other  English  settlers  as  long  as  he  lived,  and 
Death  of  died,  after  a  brilliant  career,  at  nearly 
cathai.  eighty,  in  the  abbey  of  Knockmoy. 

The  only  other  notable  thing  which  John  did 
during  his  brief  stay  in  Ireland  was  to  divide  Lein- 
ster  and  Mimster  into  the  twelve  counties  which 
have  existed  to  the  present  day.  Many  generations 
elapsed,  after  John's  departure  from  Ireland,  before 
an  English  king  again  trod  her  soil.  The  long  reign 
of  Henry  the  Third,  who  succeeded  John  (1216),  was 
mostly  taken  up  with  troubled  affairs  in  England, 
and  with  conflicts  with  the  Welsh  and  French.  Ire- 
land, therefore,  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  was  left  pretty  much  to  herself. 
The  English  Thc  EugHsh  who  wcrc  settled  in  Ireland 
in  Ireland.  could  not  couut  ou  help  from  England,  but 
were  forced  to  maintain  themselves  as  best  they  could 
by  their  own  unaided  resources.  The  Irish,  on  the 
other  hand,  did  not  have  to  fear  fresh  English  at- 
tempts at  general  conquest,  but  rather  that  the  feuds 
of  their  own  chiefs  would  undo  them.  On  each  side, 
indeed,  jealousy  and  dissension  prevented  the  achieve- 
ment of  decisive  triumph.  The  English  knights,  like 
the  Irish  chiefs,  were  as  often  found  quarrelling  and 
fighting  with  each  other,  as  combining  against  the 
common  foe. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  feature  of  this  period 
was  the  rise  of  certain  great  Anglo-Norman  (or,  as 
it  is  more  convenient  to  call  them,  English)  families 
in  Ireland.     The  power  and  warlike  ability  of  some 


THE    BRUGES    IN    IRELAND.  ^^J 

of  these  families  produced  important  results  through 
a  long  period  of  time.  One  of  the  most  eminent  of 
these  families  was  that  of  Fitzgerald,  descended  from 
the  Maurice  Fitzgerald  who  had  been  among  the 
first  Norman  knights  to  attempt  the  conquest  of 
Ireland.  This  family  was  known  as  the  The 
Geraldines.  The  heads  of  its  two  lead-  Geraidines. 
ing  branches  were  afterwards  famous  as  the  earls  of 
Kildare  and  Desmond.  These  two  branches  of  the 
Geraldines  are  represented  to  this  day  by  the  duke 
of  Leinster  (descended  fromi  the  earls  of  Kildare) 
and  the  marquis  of  Lansdowne  (descended  from  the 
earls  of  Desmond).  .Both  branches  received  from 
time  to  time  large  domains  in  Ireland,  some  of  which 
still  remain  in  possession  of  their  successors.  An- 
other great  family  which  became  powerful  in  that  early 
time  was  that  of  the  Butlers,  the  founder 

.  The  Butlers. 

of  which  family  received  extensive  gifts  of 
land  in  Kilkenny  and  Tipperary.     The  Butlers  played 
a  notable  part  in  both  Irish  and  English  history  in 
succeeding  generations,  and  were  known  as  the  earls 
and  dukes  of  Ormond. 

At  first,  these  English  possessors  of  Irish  domains 
lived  to  themselves,  in  the  strong,  towering  castles 
which  they  built.  These  castles  were  protected  by 
massive  walls  and  towers,  moats  and  bastions.  Here 
the  English  knight  might  at  least  hold  his  own  against 
the  hostile  clans  who  dwelt  in  his  neighborhood  ;  and, 
on  favorable  occasion,  issue  forth  with  his  retainers 
to  punish  the  depredations  of  the  natives.     Thus  he 


yS  YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 

protected  the  farms  of  his  tenants,  which  lay  below 
the  castle-walls.  Often  he  had  no  slight  task  in  de- 
fending the  herds  and  flocks  of  these  tenants,  which 
were  a  favorite  object  of  pillage  by  the  Irish  bands. 
The  English  lord  held  a  court  in  his  castle,  in  which 
he  punished  the  misdeeds  of  his  tenantry,  or  settled 
the  quarrels  which  arose  between  them.  He  was 
rough  and  cruel  towards  the  Irish,  and  from  the  first 
regarded  them  as  an  inferior  and  conquered  race. 

The  Irish  chiefs,  in  many  parts  of  the  country, 
found  themselves  forced  to  submit  sullenly  to  the 
The  Irish  supcrior  prowess  of  the  English  settlers, 
chiefs.  They  were  forced  to  see  the  most  fertile 

domains  held  and  cultivated  by  the  foreigners,  and 
to  be  content  with  the  less  productive  lands  in  the 
remoter  districts.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that, 
while  they  thus  submitted,  the  Irish,  whether  chiefs 
or  peasants,  fostered  a  deep-seated  hatred  of  the 
English,  and  seized  every  opportunity  to  attack  them, 
and  to  rise  in  revolt  against  their  rule.  When  a  child 
or  a  woman  came  into  possession  of  lands,  the  fierce 
Irish  chiefs  would  seize  the  domain,  and  stoutly  de- 
fend it  against  assault.  But  in  course  of  time  the 
English  barons,  perceiving  that  they  could  not  hope 
for  aid  from  England,  and  becoming  accustomed  to 
Mingling  of  an  isolated  life  in  Ireland,  began  to  mingle 
the  races.  morc  freely  with  the  native  Irish.  Their 
customs  and  manners  began  to  change,  and  to  adapt 
themselves  to  those  of  the  natives.  They  began  to 
receive  the  Irish  into  their  castles  as  servants,  and 


THE    BRUGES    IN    IRELAND.  79 

to  employ  them  as  soldiers  in  military  enterprises. 
They  formed  alliances,  sometimes,  with  the  Irish 
chiefs,  in  their  .conflicts  with  their  English  rivals. 

By  and  by  this  curious  change  in  the  English  be- 
came very  marked.  They  mingled  with  the  Irish  to 
such  an  extent  that  they  were  fast  becoming  absorbed 
by  the  native  race.  They  allowed  their  hair  to  grow 
long,  and  wore  heavy,  sweeping  mustaches,  like  the 
Irish  chiefs.  They  assumed  the  Irish  costumes, 
adopted  the  Irish  festivals  and  amusements,  and  even, 
in  some  cases,  allowed  themselves  to  be  governed  by 
the  ancient  Irish  laws.  They  married  the  intermar- 
daughters  of  Irish  chiefs,  and  gave  to  the  "^e^^. 
Irish  chiefs  their  own  daughters  in  wedlock.  Even 
scions  of  the  great  family  of  Desmond  took  to  them- 
selves Irish  wives,  and  in  this  way  encouraged  a  fusion 
of  the  two  races.  Thus,  in  many  parts  of  the  country, 
the  contentions  between  the  natives  and  the  settlers 
became  less  bitter.  The  English  barons  desired  no 
longer  to  be  the  garrison  of  the  English  crown  in 
Ireland,  but  independent  Irish  chiefs,  with  despotic 
power  over  their  domains.  It  began  to  be  said  in 
England,  that  the  English  in  Ireland  were  getting  to 
be  ''more  Irish  than  the  Irish  themselves." 

At  last  the  English  sovereign  became  thoroughly 
alarmed  at  this  state  of  things.  He  began  to  fear 
lest  his  power  over  Ireland  should  entirely  disappear. 
He  was  displeased  to  see  the  English  barons  in  Ire- 
land acting  as  if  they  were  its  independent  lords, — 
as  if  they  were  no  longer  bound  by  any  allegiance  to 


So  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND, 

him  as  their  king.  He  dreaded  the  fusion  of  the 
two  races  in  Ireland  into  one,  which  would  resist  his 
rule.  Towards  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
Edward  the  therefore,  the  English  king,  Edward  the 
First's  law.  pirst,  causcd  his  Parliament  to  make  a  law, 
which  was  intended  to  revive  all  the  old  hatred  be- 
tween the  English  in  Ireland  and  the  natives,  and  to 
sever  the  close  social  connection  which  had  grown 
up  between  them.  This  law  (1295)  compelled  the 
barons  who  had  given  up  their  lands  to  the  natives 
to  recover  them  ;  decreed  that  the  English  owners 
of  Irish  land  who  lived  in  England  should  contribute 
a  part  of  their  incomes  for  maintaining  the  army ; 
restricted  the  number  of  Irish  soldiers  to  be  em- 
ployed by  the  barons  ;  and  forbade  the  English  to 
wear  the  Irish  dress,  and  form  of  beard.  But  this 
law  did  not  at  once  have  the  desired  effect. 

The  defeat  of  the  English  king,  Edward  the  Sec- 
ond, at  Bannockburn  in  Scotland  (13 14),  was  a  signal 
for  the  native  Irish  to  make  a  desperate  attempt  to 
recover  their  country.  The  victor  at  Bannockburn 
was  the  heroic  Robert  Bruce.  Bruce  was  already 
known  to  the  Irish,  as  he  had  once  taken  refuge 
among  them.  The  Irish,  moreover,  had  always  had 
sympathy  with  their  kinsmen,  the  Scots,  in  their  long 
and  obstinate  struggle  with  the  English.  When  the 
Revolt  of  Scots  triumphed  at  Bannockburn,  there- 
Donaid  forc,  the  Irish  not  only  rejoiced,  but  re- 

solved in  their  turn  to  resist  the  English. 
The    great    Ulster   chief,    Donald    O'Neil,    led    the 


THE    BRUGES    IN    IRELAND.  8l 

revolt.  He  sent  to  Scotland,  and  invited  Edward 
Bruce,  Robert's  brother,  and  no  less  valiant  in  war 
than  Robert,  to  come  and  head  the  Irish  patriots, 
Edward  Bruce  promptly  responded  to  the  summons. 
He  crossed  over  from  Scotland  with  a  company  of 
hardy  Scottish  knights  and  six  thousand  soldiers. 
He  was  speedily  joined  by  O'Neil  near  Glenarm, 
and  soon  after  by  Felim  O'Connor,  king  of  Con- 
naught.  At  the  head  of  the  English  forces  was 
the  redoubtable  De  Burgh,  earl  of  Ulster. 

The  news  of  the  landing  of  Bruce  spread  swiftly 
through  Ireland.     O'Donnell,  lord  of  Tyrconnel,  took 
and    plundered    Sligo,    and    the    country  Edward 
round  about  that  town.     The  lord  of  Tho-  Bruce  in 
mond  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his  im-    "  ^"  ' 
patient  clans,  and  the  lesser  chiefs  of  the  south  and 
east   hastened  to  take  up  arms.     The  contagion  of 
revolt  spread  even  to  some  of   the  English   barons 
themselves.     The  De  Lacys,  lords  of  Meath,  joined 
hands  with  the  native  chiefs.     A  series  of  obstinate 
conflicts,    with   varying    fortune,    ensued.       Edward 
Bruce   was    crowned    king   of    Ireland    at    Dundalk, 
by  the  native  princes  ;   but  he  was  forced  to  fight 
desperately  for  his  new  crown,  and  was  doomed  at 
last   to   defeat  and  death.       He  was  first  forced  to 
retreat  into  Ulster  by  the  greatly  superior  army  of 
De    Burgh.     Then   the   tide   for  a   while   Arrival  of 
turned.      De    Burgh    was    obliged    to    re-  Robert 
treat ;   and  Bruce,  with  the  allied   chiefs, 
swept  down  through   Meath.     Robert   Bruce    came 


S2  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

with  a  large  Scottish  force,  to  his  brother's  succor ; 
and  their  arms  were  carried  to  the  very  walls  of 
Dublin. 

But  Robert  Bruce  was  soon  compelled  to  return  to 
defend  his  own  kingdom  of  Scotland  ;  and,  from  the 
time  of  his  departure,  Edward's  fortunes  began  to 
wane.  The  Geraldines  gathered  together  an  army 
of  thirty  thousand  men.  Dublin  was  put  in  a  state 
of  defence.  Sir  John  de  Bermingham,  at  the  head  of 
a  well-equipped  force,  pushed  forward  to  meet 
Bruce,  and  confronted  him  at  Dundalk.  There  a 
brief  but  bitter  struggle  took  place.  The  Irish  and 
their  Scottish  allies  were  completely  defeated ;  and 
Death  of  Ed-  the  bravc  Edward  Bruce  fell  dead  in  the 
ward  Bruce,  ^lidst  of  his  discomfitcd  warriors.  The  re- 
volt was  at  last  suppressed.  But  no  aid  had  come 
from  England  to  the  English  barons  ;  and  the  con- 
flict had,  on  the  whole,  been  disastrous  to  English 
ascendancy.  The  limits  of  English  rule  shrank,  and 
the  Irish  entered  upon  many  domains  which  the 
English  deserted.  Large  numbers  of  the  English 
farmers  left  the  country  altogether.  The  English 
barons  not  only  abandoned  their  allegiance  to  the 
English  crown,  but  became  more  than  ever  Irish  in 
their  habits  and  tendencies,  and  even  here  and  there 
abandoned  their  Norman  for  Irish  names. 

Thus  it  came  about  that,  early  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  the  Third,  the  dominion  of  the  English  in 
Ireland  was  reduced  to  much  smaller  dimensions 
than  it  had  once  held.     Ulster  had  never  been  wholly 


THE    BRUGES    IN    IRELAND.  83 

conquered.  Munster  was  by  no  means  under  the 
complete  control  of  the  Geraldines.  Connaught  was 
in  a  state  of  insurrection.  The  English  The  English 
Pale  had  dwindled  to  the  region  imme-  ^^'^• 
diately  around  Dublin.  The  fortified  towns,  and  the 
domains  of  the  earls  of  Kildare  and  Ormond,  were 
nearly  all  the  places  outside  the  Pale  which  were 
still  securely  held  by  the  English.  At  least  one-half 
of  the  ancient  royal  province  of  Meath  was  in  pos- 
session of  the  Irish  chiefs.  Edward  the  Third,  like 
his  grandfather,  tried,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  next 
chapter,  to  recover  at  least  the  allegiance  of  the 
English  in  Ireland.  But  he  does  not  seem  to  have 
thought  it  possible  to  subdue  the  whole  island  to  his 
rule.  More  than  a  century  was  yet  to  elapse  before 
an  English  monarch  would  again  attempt  the  con- 
quest of  all  Ireland. 


84  YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

RICHARD    THE    SECOND    IN    IRELAND. 

EDWARD  THE  THIRD  made  two  attempts  dur- 
ing his  busy  reign,  to  restore  the  fast-waning 
power  of  the  English  crown  in  Ireland.  He  tried  to 
Attem  ts  to  ^^^^  ^^^  influence  and  ambition  of  the  great 
recover  Ire-  barons,  somctimcs  by  throwing  them  into 
prison  and  taking  away  their  estates,  and 
sometimes  by  according  them  favors.  The  earl  of 
Desmond  was  kept  for  more  than  a  year  a  prisoner 
in  Dublin  castle,  and  a  part  of  his  land  was  taken 
from  him.  Desmond  resisted  the  king's  designs,  and 
gathered  about  him  so  formidable  an  array  of  lords 
and  bishops,  that  Edward,  for  the  while,  gave  up  his 
efforts  in  Ireland.  Later,  however,  the  English  king 
made  a  second  attempt  to  restore  his  sway  in  Ireland. 
He  filled  all  the  Irish  offices  with  courtiers  and  favor- 
ites whom  he  sent  from  London,  and  declared  that  no 
man  of  Irish  birth  should  hold  any  office  or  any  mili- 
tary command  in  the  country.  He  called  the  English 
in  Ireland  "rebels,"  and  the  native  Irish  "enemies." 
He  then  sent  one  of  his  sons,  Lionel,  duke  of  Clar- 
ence, over  to  Ireland  as  viceroy. 


RICHARD    THE    SECOND    IN    IRELAND.  85 

Clarence  carried  matters  with  a  high  hand.  He 
showed  little  respect  either  to  the  English  or  the 
Irish.  He  treated  one  and  all  with  stern  severity. 
He  summoned  an  Irish  parliament  to  meet  him  at 
Kilkenny  (1367),  and  caused  it  to  pass  a  The  law  of 
very  stringent  law.  This  law  much  re-  Kilkenny, 
sembled  that  which  had  been  passed  by  Edward  the 
First.  It  forbade,  under  heavy  penalties,  marriages 
between  the  English  colonists  and  the  native  Irish. 
It  prohibited  the  English  from  acting  as  foster- 
parents  or  as  sponsors  to  Irish  children.  It  declared 
that  every  Englishman  who  wore  the  Irish  dress,  or 
used  the  Irish  language,  or  adopted  Irish  customs, 
should  be  compelled  to  give  up  his  lands.  It  shut 
Irishmen  out  of  the  priesthood  and  the  English  mon- 
asteries. It  proscribed  the  Irish  bards,  and  forbade 
the  English  to  receive  the  bards  in  their  households. 
By  its  provisions.  Englishmen  who  wore  a  long 
mustache,  or  rode  horseback  without  saddles  after 
the  Irish  fashion,  were  to  be  severely  punished.  So, 
likewise.  Englishmen  who  submitted  to  the  ancient 
Irish,  or  Brehon,  laws,  were  condemned  to  pay  heavy 
fines. 

But  this  harsh  law  was  never  carried  fully  into 
effect.  The  king's  officers  in  Ireland  were  not  strong 
enough  to  enforce  its  execution.  Edward  himself 
was  busy  with  his  wars  in  France  ;  and  at  the  end  of 
his  reign,  the  native  Irish  had  confined  the  limits  of 
English  occupation  within  even  narrower  bounds  than 
before.     Richard  the  Second,  who  succeeded  the  third 


S6  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

Edward  on  the  English  throne,  was  young  and  full 
of  ambition.  He  craved  dominion  and  military  fame. 
Richard  the  Finding  that  the  power  of  the  crown  in 
Second  in       Ireland  was  at  its  lowest  ebb,  he  resolved 

to  make  a  vigorous  effort  to  increase  it. 
He  landed  at  Waterford  at  the  head  of  a  formidable 
army,  comprising  no  less  than  thirty  thousand  arch- 
ers and  four  thousand  men-at-arms.  This  was  a  very 
large  military  force  for  those  days  ;  and  it  is  no  won- 
der that  Richard's  arrival,  with  such  an  array,  struck 
awe  into  the  hearts  of  even  the  stoutest  Irish  chiefs. 
Richard's  purpose  was  to  subdue  the  native  Irish, 
and  to  win  the  allegiance  of  the  English  colonists. 

The  arrival  of  the  fleet  at  Waterford,  the  royal 
galley  being  conspicuous  in  its  midst  with  its  bright 
banners  and  gilded  pennons,  filled  the  people  with 
wonder,  mingled  with  terror.  With  Richard  came 
an  imposing  array  of  great  English  princes  and 
nobles.  The  king's  uncle,  the  duke  of  Gloucester, 
Roger  Mortimer,  earl  of  March  (heir  to  the  throne), 
lord  Thomas  Percy,  the  earls  of  Nottingham  and 
Rutland,  with  their  brilliant  retinues,  swelled  the 
Richard  I'oyal  train.  Richard  repaired  to  Water- 
advances  to    ford  cathedral,  where  mass  was  performed 

with  stately  pomp ;  and  for  a  week  the 
town  witnessed  a  series  of  gay  and  costly  festivities. 
The  king  sent  presents  to  the  neighboring  churches, 
and  welcomed  the  English  lords  who  lived  in  the 
country  roundabout.  Then,  with  standards  flying, 
he  took    up  his    march    through    Kilkenny  towards 


RICHARD    THE    SECOND    IN    IRELAND.  8/ 

Dublin.  As  he  advanced,  the  English  lords,  and 
some  of  the  Irish  chiefs,  joined  his  army  and  pro- 
ceeded with  him  to  the  capital. 

Richard  entered  Dublin,  whither  he  summoned  the 
Irish  princes  and  chiefs  to  come  and  do  him  homage. 
The  summons  was  promptly  obeyed,  even  by  the 
unconquered  chiefs  of  the  north.     O'Neil,   c.  ..    •   . 

^  '     Submission 

still  the  most  powerful  of  the  Ulster  of  the  Irish 
chiefs,  O'Brien  and  O'Connor  from  the  '^^^^^^' 
west,  and  McMurrough  of  Leinster,  attended  the 
royal  court,  with  nearly  a  hundred  others.  Richard 
feasted  and  flattered  them,  and  in  return  they  swore 
fealty  to  his  crown.  At  the  same  time,  he  granted 
an  amnesty  to  the  English  who  had  acted  as  if  they 
were  independent  of  his  crown,  and  made  an  ener- 
getic effort  to  put  the  government  of  Ireland  upon  a 
sounder  basis.  It  seemed  as  if  Ireland  had  at  last 
come  completely  under  the  power  of  the  English 
king.  In  the  midst  of  his  task,  however,  Richard 
was  compelled  to  return  to  London,  where  the  Lol- 
lards (followers  of  Wycliffe,  the  religious  reformer) 
were  creating  trouble.  He  left  Ireland,  fully  per- 
suaded that  he  had  secured  his  sway  over  the  coun- 
try. He  appointed  his  cousin,  Roger  Mortimer,  who 
was  also  his  chosen  heir,  to  act  as  viceroy. 

No  sooner  was  Richard's  back  turned,  however, 
than  the  Irish  chiefs    discarded    their  al-   „  „ 

McMur- 

legiance.     McMurrough,  who  was  deeply  rough's 
enraged    against    the    English,    and    was   '■^^°'** 
perhaps  the  most  intrepid  Irish  warrior  of  his  day, 


88  YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 

broke  into  open  revolt.  He  defeated  Richard's  sol- 
diers at  Kells,  and  seized  several  strongholds.  In  the 
course  of  the  conflict,  Roger  Mortimer  himself  was 
killed.  Richard  heard  the  news  of  McMurrough's 
rising  with  anger  and  alarm.  He  quickly  assembled 
another  great  army  and  a  fleet,  and  once  more  landed 
„.  ^    ,  in  Ireland  (13QQ).     McMurrouo^h  was  not 

Richard  ^    ^^y/  o 

returns  to  stroug  cnougli  to  uicct  the  king's  forces 
Ireland.         ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^  ,  ^^  ^^  plunged  into  the  forests 

and  bogs,  and  engaged  in  an  irregular  guerilla  war- 
fare. In  his  knowledge  of  the  country,  he  had  a 
great  advantage  over  the  king  and  his  well-trained 
soldiers.  McMurrough's  sallies  persistently  worried 
and  wearied  the  royal  troops,  who  could  nowhere  find 
the  Irish,  so  as  to  fight  them  in  the  open.  Hunger 
added  to  the  distress  of  the  royal  troops,  and  it  was 
with  great  difificulty  that  Richard  managed  to  lead 
his  disheartened  and  diminished  force  to  Dublin'. 
So  reduced  by  hunger  were  his  men,  that  they 
*'  rushed  into  the  sea,  as  eagerly  as  they  would  into 
their  straw." 

Events  took  place  in  England  which  probably 
saved  Ireland  from  a  desolating  war,  and  perhaps 
from  complete  conquest.  Henry  of  Bolingbroke, 
Richard's  cousin,  landed  on  the  English  coast. 
Deposition  with  the  avowcd  intent  to  depose  Richard 
of  Richard,  from  the  throne.  Once  more  the  king 
was  obliged  to  quit  Ireland  in  all  haste ;  and  soon  the 
news  came  back,  that  Richard  had  been  taken  pris- 
oner, that  his  crown  had  been  taken  from  him,  and 


RICHARD    THE    SECOND    IN    IRELAND.  89 

that  Bolingbroke  was  reigning  in  his  place,  as  Henry 
the  Fourth.  Ireland  was  now  left  to  herself  for  a 
long  period.  Henry  the  Fourth  had  as  much  as  he 
could  do  to  maintain  himself  upon  the  throne  he  had 
conquered.  Henry  the  Fifth's  short  reign  was  almost 
wholly  absorbed  by  the  brilliant  war  he  carried  on 
with  the  French.  The  longer  reign  of  his  son, 
Henry  the  Sixth,  was  occupied  by  the  bitter  and 
bloody  "Wars  of  the  Roses."  Again  the  wars  of  the 
English  colonists  were  forced  to  protect  ^o^es. 
themselves,  unaided  by  the  mother-country.  The 
Pale,  confined  to  Dublin,  and  small  portions  of  out- 
lying districts  in  Louth,  Kildare,  and  Meath,  was 
protected  by  fortifications.  Little  English  colonies 
huddled,  with  fear  and  trembling,  in  seaside  strong- 
holds like  Waterford  and  Wexford.  Even  great 
nobles  like  the  earl  of  Desmond  were  unable  to  go 
far  from  their  domains,  lest  the  native  Irish  should 
fall  upon  them  and  destroy  them. 

Thus,  during  the  fifteenth  century,  the  position  of 
the  English  in  Ireland  grew  ever  weaker.  Towards 
its  close,  the   o:arrison   of  Dublin  and  of  ^   ,. 

'  ^  Decline  of 

the  Pale  had  become  reduced  to  less  than  English 
two  hundred  regular  soldiers,  while  the  p°^"' 
government  had  grown  miserably  poor.  The  colo- 
nists themselves  were  forced  to  combine  in  voluntarv 
bands,  in  order  to  protect  their  families  and  homes 
from  the  attacks  of  the  native  Irish.  Now  and  then, 
attempts  would  be  made  to  enforce  the  law  which 
Clarence  had  caused  to  be  made  at  Kilkenny ;  and. 


90  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

in  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Sixth,  even  harsher  laws 

than  that  of    Kilkenny,  directed  against  the  native 

Irish,  were  proclaimed.     One  of  these  was, 

Harsh  laws.  i         i   -n 

that  an  Englishman  who  killed  an  Irish- 
man who  was  on  the  way  to  or  from  a  pillaging  expe- 
dition, should  be  not  only  acquitted,  but  paid  for  the 
deed.  In  addition  to  such  laws,  the  English  colonists 
were  permitted  to  practise  a  custom  which  bore  very 
grievously  upon  the  Irish.  This  was  the  custom 
called  "coyne  and  livery."  It  meant  that  English 
soldiers  could  be  quartered  free,  at  any  time,  in  the 
households  of  the  natives.  Thus  the  peace  of  Irish 
homes  could  be  disturbed  suddenly  by  the  intrusion 
of  rude  foreigners,  who  tyrannized  over  the  families, 
occupied  the  best  rooms,  consumed  the  provisions, 
and  stalled  their  horses  in  the  barns. 

Other  severe  laws,  intended  to  oppress  the  native 
Irish,  and  to  separate  them  by  as  wide  a  gulf  as  pos- 
sible from  the  English  settlers,  were  passed  in  the 
time   of    Henry   the    Sixth.     Every    man 

Suppression  •'  ^         •' 

of  Irish  who  did  not  shave  his  upper  lip  at  least 

customs.  once  a  fortnight,  was  to  be  heavily  fined 
and  imprisoned.  It  was  declared  a  crime  even  to 
trade  with  the  natives,  and  the  natives  who  traded 
with  the  English  were  denounced  as  ''enemies  of 
the  king."  All  the  Irish,  too,  who  dwelt  within  the 
Pale  were  forced  to  take  English  names,  speak  the 
English  language,  wear  the  English  garb,  and  shave 
themselves  as  the  English  did.  But  these  harsh 
laws  could  not  always  be  enforced.    The  English  had 


RICHARD    THE    SECOND    IN    IRELAND.  9I 

as  much  as  they  could  do  to  maintain  themselves  in 
Ireland  at  all.  So  weak  did  their  government  become 
towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  that  they 
were  forced  to  pay  sums  of  money  to  the  Irish  chiefs 
as  a  ransom  for  their  safety.  This  was  done,  not 
only  by  the  Pale,  but  by  isolated  strongholds  like 
Waterford  and  Wexford. 

The  laws   made  by  the  English    kings,  however, 
brought  about  one  result  which  they  wished.     The 
two  races  who  lived  side  by  side  in  Ireland   ^^^^^^ 
became  estranged  and  bitterly  hostile  to   ment  of  the 
each  other.     When   there  was   peace  be- 
tween them,  it  was    merely  an   armed    truce.     The 
Irish  did   not  hesitate  to  plunder  the  English,  and 
seize  upon  their  lands,  whenever  and  wherever  they 
could.     The  English,  on  the  other  hand,  subjected 
the    Irish    who    fell    into    their    hands    to    ruthless 
cruelty.     The  two  peoples  would  not  even  worship 
in  the  same  churches,  although  their  religion  was  the 
same.      Each  race  had  its  own  churches  The  two 
and  monasteries.     The  English  land-own-  churches, 
ers  built  chapels  within  their  domain,  in  which  Eng- 
lish   or    French    priests    officiated.      Whenever   the 
Irish  could  do  so  in  safety,  they  attended  the  minis- 
trations  of    Irish   priests.     Yet,  in   spite  of   all  the 
dissensions    between    the    two    races,  we    find   both 
Anglo-Irish   and  native    Irish    taking   part,  side    by 
side,  in  the  Wars   of   the   Roses  in  Eng-  irish  soldiers 
land.     The  Geraldines  fought  for  the  white   '"  England, 
rose,  or  the  house  of  York,  and  the  Ormonds  sided 


92  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND, 

with  the  red  rose,  or  the  house  of  Lancaster  ;  while 
many  other  Irish  chiefs  were  to  be  found,  from  time 
to  time,  among  the  contending  hosts. 

In  the  events  which  have  been  narrated  in  the  last 
five  chapters,  may  be  traced  the  beginning  of  the 
condition  of  things  which  has  made  Ireland,  for  seven 
centuries,  a  land  of  unhappy  memories,  of  almost  con- 
stant miseries,  and  of  deep  and  lasting  discontent. 
When  the  English,  by  superior  force  of  arms,  planted 
Seizures  of  thcmsclves  ou  Irish  soil ;  when  they  seized 
Irish  land.  upou  the  fruitful  lands  of  the  people ; 
when  they  replaced  the  ancient  Irish  custom  of  land- 
holding,  by  the  feudal  system  ;  when  they  substituted 
English  law  for  the  old  Brehon  law,  —  they  laid  the 
foundation  of  all  the  evils  which  have  since  befallen 
Ireland,  and  of  all  the  tyranny,  which,  almost  down 
to  our  own  time,  marked  the  English  rule  over 
the  island.  At  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the 
English  colonies  seemed  on  the  very  verge  of  extinc- 
tion. But,  early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  power 
of  the  English  crown  was  once  more  sternly  put 
forth  to  subject  all  Ireland  to  its  authority. 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  93 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE. 

IRISH  history,  during  the  period  included  between 
the  invasion  of  the  Normans,  or  English,  and  the 
close  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses, — that  is,  between 
1 169  and  1485, — takes  little  account  of  the  common 
people.  We  only  know  of  them  that  they  The  common 
were,  to  a  large  degree,  peasants,  living  in  people, 
wretched  huts,  tilling  the  soil,  and  tending  the  herds 
and  flocks ;  reduced,  oftentimes,  to  beggary,  and 
wandering  along  the  roads  pleading  for  alms.  It  is 
said  that  the  slave-trade  was  abolished  by  a  church 
council  at  Armagh,  towards  the  close  of  the  twelfth 
century.  But  it  is  probable  that  the  holding  of  slaves 
in  Ireland,  as  laborers  and  domestics,  continued  for  a 
long  period  after  that  time.  In  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, there  were  two  classes  of  farmers  in  iHsh 
Ireland.  One  class,  called  the ''biataghs,"  farmers, 
held  the  lands  they  cultivated  free  of  rent,  on  con- 
dition that  they  lodged  and  fed  travellers,  and  re- 
ceived the  soldiers  of  the  chiefs  when  they  were  on 
the  march.  The  other  and  lower  class  was  that  of 
the  "brooccs,"  who  both  paid  rent  and  were  subject 


94  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

to  be  called  upon  for  military  service.  The  brooee, 
moreover,  was  obliged  to  keep  at  least  a  hundred 
laborers,  and  a  hundred  of  every  species  of  domestic 
animals,  on  his  farm. 

Many  of  the  ancient  Irish  habits  and  customs  still 
lingered  in  the  fifteenth  century.  The  bards,  poets, 
and  minstrels,  though  they  had  been  persecuted  at 
intervals,  and  were  even  forbidden,  by  the  English 
law,  to  enter  the  houses  of  the  people,  retained  their 
hold  tenaciously  upon  the  popular  affection  and  ven- 
eration. They  were  favored  in  many  ways  by  the 
princes    and    chiefs.     They  held   seats  of 

The  bards.         J  ,        .  i  •        i 

honor  at  the  leasts,  and  received  presents, 
often  of  great  value.  One  bard,  it  is  related,  received 
from  king  Brian,  as  a  reward  for  one  of  his  poems, 
gold  and  clothing  and  twenty  cows.  Another  re- 
ceived "twenty  horned  cows,"  and  "the  blessing  of 
the  king  of  Erin."  In  course  of  time,  indeed,  the 
bards  and  poets  became  more  subject  to  the  will  of 
the  chiefs  than  they  once  had  been.  But  their  office 
continued  to  be  an  hereditary  one,  descending  from 
father  to  son  ;  and  many  of  them  held  large  estates, 
and  lived  lives  of  dignity  and  ease.  The  singing  of 
the  bards,  and  the  recitation  by  the  poets  of  verses 
celebrating  the  deeds  of  heroes,  was  a  conspicuous 
feature  of  Irish  life  even  under  English  rule. 

Both  the  bards  and  the  native  judges  (Brehons)  were 
still  regarded  as  sacred  in  their  persons.  The  curse 
of  the  bard  of  Usnagh  was  believed  to  have  cost  Sir 
John  Stanley  his  life.     The  murder  of  a  Brehon  judge 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  95 

by  Irial  O'Farrell  was  avenged,  it  was  said  among 
the  people,  by  the  long  series  of  misfor-  The  Brehon 
tunes  which  befell  the  murderer's  children.  J^^e^s. 
The  bards  continued  to  be  under  the  special  protection 
of  the  chiefs.  An  O'Neil,  who  gave  many  presents 
to  the  bards,  and  had  the  largest  collection  of  poems 
in  Ireland,  is  specially  named  and  praised  in  the 
chronicles  of  his  time.  The  love  of  learning  had 
never  been  extinguished  among  the  Irish,  even  by 
the  repeated  ravages  of  war,  or  the  desperate  strug- 
gles against  foreign  conquest.  Whenever  there  was 
a  lull  in  these  storms  of  conflict,  Irish  scholarship 
revived.  In  the  thirteenth  century  the  famous  Fran- 
ciscan and  Dominican  friars,  who  brought  about  a 
great  religious  revival  in  England,  extended  their 
labors  to  Ireland  also  ;  and  at  the  end  of  that  century, 
had  established  fifty  or  sixty  monasteries  of  their 
orders  in  Ireland. 

These  monasteries  became  places  of  asylum  to 
the  Irish  scholars,  whither  they  could  retreat  from  the 
turmoils  of  the  civil  commotions.  They  The 
gave  to  the  scholars,  moreover,  another  monasteries, 
advantage  besides  that  of  studying  in  safety  and 
quiet.  The  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  had  similar 
monasteries,  which  were  not  less  seats  of  learning 
than  religious  houses,  scattered  through  the  Euro- 
pean cities.  A  student  who  had  attached  himself  to 
one  of  the  monasteries  was  freely  admitted  into  any 
of  the  others.  So  it  was  that  Irish  scholars,  some- 
times in  great  numbers,  were  found  pursuing  their 


96  YOUNG   people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

studies  in  England,  Paris,  Naples,  and  other  foreign 
places.  Some  of  them  became  very  noted  for  their 
profound  learning.  One  was  a  professor  at  Oxford 
in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Second.  Another,  John 
Irish  men  of  Scotus  of  Down,  was  famous  in  the  schools 
learning.  q£  Paris  and  Cologne  for  the  extent  of  his 
scholarly  accomplishments.  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  there  was  a  large  number  of  Irish 
students  in  the  Oxford  colleges. 

The  Irish  had  not  lost,  in  the  lapse  of  time,  those 
attractive  traits  of  hospitality,  of  respect  for  women, 
and  of  social  cheer,  which  they  are  known  to  have 
possessed  even  in  the  remote  age  of  the  Druids. 
These  were  always,  and  are  still,  prominent  charac- 
teristics of  the  Irish  race.  They  made  freely 
welcome  visitors  of  all  ranks  and  of  every  social 
grade.  The  freest  and  most  bountiful  hospitality 
marked  the  homes  of  the  princes  and  chiefs  ;  and 
even  the  lowest  class  of  the  Irish  lavished  such 
humble  good-cheer  as  they  could  afford  upon  their 
guests.  Henry  O'Neil  is  said  to  have  ''given  every- 
thins:  that  came  into  his  hands  to  all  manner  of 
men."  It  is  related  of  one  of  the  great  chiefs  of  the 
Irish  O'Kellys,  that  he  invited   all    the    bards, 

generosity,  poets,  and  cvcu  poor  pcoplc,  who  chose  to 
come,  to  abide  with  him  throughout  the  Christmas 
holidays  ;  and  feasted  them  every  day  in  quite  royal 
fashion.  A  rich  dame  of  rank,  Margaret  O'Carroll, 
twice  a  year  opened  her  house  to  all  the  bards  and 
poets,  both  of  England  and  of  Ireland,  who  would 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  9/ 

accept  her  lavish  hospitalities.  A  violation  of  hos- 
pitality was  always  regarded  by  the  Irish  as  an 
odious  action  ;  and  he  who  showed  inhospitality 
was  doomed  to  the  scorn  of  his  neighbors  for  the 
rest  of  his  life. 

The  respect  of  the  Irish  for  women,  and  their 
chivalrous  protection  of  them,  are  to  be  seen  in  all 
periods  of  their  career.  The  wife  retained  Respect  for 
her  maiden  name,  adding  to  it  that  of  her  w°"^en. 
husband.  If  she  were  of  equal  rank  with  her  hus- 
band, she  shared  his  authority  equally  with  him,  and 
he  was  in  no  sense  her  master.  The  Irish  women, 
indeed,  often  took  part  in  public  affairs  ;  and  the 
names  of  many  of  them  have  come  down  in  history. 
We  find  Margaret  O'Carroll  celebrated,  not  only  for 
her  great  hospitality,  but  for  her  energy  and  active 
piety.  She  exchanged  prisoners  in  the  wars,  herself 
conducting  them  from  place  to  place,  and  that  "with- 
out the  knowledge  of  her  husband."  She  built  roads, 
bridges,  and  churches,  and  gave  to  the  churches 
many  books  and  ornaments.  Another  famous  Irish 
dame  was  Margaret  Fitzgerald,  wife  of  Margaret 
the  earl  of  Ormond.  She  is  said  to  have  f  i^zgeraid. 
been  "  a  lady  of  such  port,  that  all  the  estates  of  the 
realm  couched  to  her ;  and  so  politic,  that  nothing  was 
thought  fully  debated  without  her  counsel."  When 
she  was  dying,  and  the  priest  urged  her  to  restore 
some  lands  which  she  had  unjustly  seized,  threaten- 
ing her  with  eternal  punishment  if  she  refused,  she 
grimly   replied,   that   '*  it   was    better   that   one   old 


98  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

woman  should  burn  for  eternity,  than  that  the  But- 
lers (earls  of  Ormond)  should  be  curtailed  of  their 
estates." 

The  Irish  chiefs  of  the  fifteenth  century  usually 
lived  in  frame-houses  on  a  well  fortified  island,  or  on 
some  jutting  peninsula  which  projected  into  a  lake, 
so  that  the  water  formed  for  them  a  natural  defence. 
Some  of  the  greater  chiefs,  however,  imitated  the 
English  lords,  and  built  strong  castles  of  stone,  in 
which  they  dwelt  in  a  rude  sort  of  state.  High  walls 
surrounded  these  castles,  within  which  were  built  the 
stables,  as  well  as  cottages  for  the  chief's  immediate 
retinue  and  servants.  Each  castle,  too,  had  its  open 
Castle  and  space,  or  ''grccn."  Sometimes  this  was 
hamlet.  outsidc,  and  sometimes  within,  the  castle 

walls.  The  green  was  often  the  scene  of  merry- 
making, of  boisterous  pastimes  and  athletic  contests. 
The  Irish,  like  the  English,  have  always  been  fond 
of  sturdy  out-of-door  sports.  At  stated  periods  of 
the  year,  several  clans  would  gather  at  one  of  the 
castles ;  and  chiefs  and  vassals  would  witness,  to- 
gether, the  trials  of  strength  which  took  place  on  the 
green  between  the  rival  clansmen. 

The  Irish  of  the  fifteenth  century  were,  perhaps, 
scarcely  less  superstitious  than  were  those  of  the  fifth. 
They  were  quick  to  believe  in  omens,  portents,  and 
signs  ;  and  many  proverbs  interpreting  the  freaks  of 
nature,  or  happenings  among  the  people,  were  extant. 
They  believed  in  ghosts  and  ghostly  legends,  and  were 
intensely  moved  by  the  weird  tales  of  haunted  places, 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  99 

and  of  strange  events,  sung  to  them  by  the  bards. 
But  the  superstition  of  the  early  Irish  supersti- 
rarely  showed  itself  in  cruel  forms.  They  ^'°"^' 
did  not,  like  the  English,  doom  supposed  witches  to 
barbarous  methods  of  persecution.  There  seems 
good  reason  to  believe  that  the  fear  and  the  severe 
punishment  of  witchcraft  were  introduced  into  Ire- 
land by  the  English  settlers.  The  first  example  of 
such  a  persecution  in  Ireland  occurred  early  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  when  Lady  Alice  Kettel  and  her 
son  were  accused  of  "  black  magic."  They  were, 
however,  found  not  guilty,  and  released.  In  later 
times,  so-called  witches  were  condemned  in  Ireland, 
but  usually  by  the  English. 

Although  the  religion  of  the  Irish  and  of  the  Eng- 
lish was  the  same,  the  two  churches  were  not  united 
in  Ireland.  The  bishops  in  the  districts  The  irish 
still  held  by  the  Irish  were,  as  of  old,  bishops, 
chosen  by  the  election  of  the  clergy.  But  the  Irish 
church  had  long  submitted  to  the  power  of  the  pope  ; 
and,  as  each  bishop  was  elected,  he  was  careful  to 
receive  the  pope's  sanction  before  he  entered  upon 
the  duties  of  his  sacred  office.  The  bishops  of  those 
parts  of  Ireland  held  by  the  English,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  named  by  the  English  sovereigns,  who, 
through  several  reigns,  had  denied  the  right  of  the 
pope  to  appoint  or  confirm  bishops  in  England.  In- 
deed, the  English  Parliament  had  passed  severe  laws, 
punishing  those  priests,  who,  whether  in  England 
or  in  Ireland,  claimed  to  act  under  an  appointment 


I(X)         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


from  the  pope.  In  the  border  districts,  where  neither 
Irish  nor  English  had  full  control,  such  as  Meath 
and  Louth,  there  were  often  two  rival  bishops,  one 
deriving  his  office  from  election  by  the  clergy  with 
the  papal  sanction,  and  the  other  from  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  English  crown.  The  bishops  of  Dublin, 
Cork,  Waterford,  and  Limerick,  were  the  nominees 
of  the  crown  ;  those  of  Ulster,  Connaught,  and  part 
of  Munster,  were  the  elect  of  the  native  clergy. 
Constant  conflicts  arose,  therefore,  between  the  two 
churches.  Hatreds  and  jealousies  grew  up;  and,  in 
spite  of  many  attempts  to  reconcile  them,  their  dis- 
sensions long  crippled  the  religious  usefulness  of 
both. 

Ireland  was  not  only  rent,  during  the  fifteenth 
century,  by  the  conflicts  between  the  two  races,  but 
was  also  the  frequent  scene  of  bitter  family  feuds, 
Family  ^ud  petty  wars    between    clan   and   clan, 

feuds.  Acts  of  violence,  fierce  revenges  and  re- 

taliations, were  of  very  frequent  occurrence.  The 
Irishman  always  carried  his  battle-axe  with  him,  not 
only  when  he  traversed  the  lonely  roads,  but  also 
when  he  went  to  mass,  on  a  hunting  expedition,  or  to 
a  gay  festival.  He  was  quick  to  fight,  and  fought 
ferociously.  But  it  must  also  be  said,  that  assassina- 
tion and  treachery  were  not  conspicuous  among  the 
crimes  of  the  Irish  at  that  period.  A 
poisoner,  or  secret  murderer,  was  looked 
upon  with  horror  by  the  people,  who  treated  him  as 
an  outcast ;  while  the  man  who  slew  his  enemy  in 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  lOI 

open  fight  was  held  in  honor.  Some  of  the  punish- 
ments imposed  upon  criminals  or  enemies,  indeed, 
were  barbarously  cruel.  They  were  sometimes 
maimed  in  limbs,  and  their  eyes  were  sometimes  put 
out.  But,  in  this  respect,  the  Irishman  was  neither 
worse  nor  better  than  other  races  in  that  dark  age. 


102         YOUNG   people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE    IRISH    PARLIAMENT. 

THE  Wars  of  the  Roses  had  come  to  a  close. 
Henry  the  Seventh,  the  first  of  the  strong-willed 
line  of  the  Tudor  sovereigns,  sat  upon  the  English 
throne  (1485).  By  his  marriage  with  Elizabeth  of 
Union  of  the  York,  he  had  united  the  two  houses  of 
Roses.  York  and   Lancaster,  which  had  so  long 

struggled  with  each  other  for  supremacy.  It  seemed 
as  if  Henry  would  have  a  long  and  undisputed  reign. 
Ireland  had  for  years  been  left  to  herself,  so  entirely 
had  the  attention  of  the  English  kings  been  diverted 
from  her,  first  by  the  wars  with  France,  and  then  by 
the  protracted  civil  conflict.  Henry  was  a  stern, 
determined  man,  who  was  fully  resolved  to  rule  with 
an  iron  hand.  In  the  earlier  part  of  his  reign,  how- 
ever, he  scarcely  thought  of  Ireland.  The  earl  of 
Kildare,  the  head  of  one  of  the  branches  of  the  pow 
Geraidine  of  erful  Gcraldines,  was  governor  of  IrelanJ 
Kildare.  ^^   ^\^q    time    of   Hcnry's   accession ;    and, 

although  he  had  been  a  partisan  of  the  Yorkists, 
Henry's  enemies,  Henry  allowed  Kildare  to  remain 
in  his  office.      Kildare,  besides  being  a  very  powerful 


THE    IRISH    PARLIAMENT.  IO3 

lord,  had  a  great  deal  of  influence  with  the  native 
clans ;  and,  for  this  reason,  the  new  king  thought  it 
wise  not  to  disturb  him. 

But  in  no  long  time  an  event  occurred  which  drew 
Henry's  attention  to  Ireland.  His  enemies  sought 
to  make  Ireland  a  point  from  whence  to  assail  his 
hold  on  the  English  crown.  The  Yorkist  heir  to 
the  crown  was  Edward,  earl  of  Warwick,  who  had 
been  kept  for  some  time  a  close  prisoner  in  the  Tower 
of  London.  Suddenly  an  English  priest  arrived  in 
Dublin,  bringing  with  him  a  handsome  youth  with 
attractive  manners,  whom  he  declared  to  be  no  other 
than  the  earl  of  Warwick.  Henry's  enemies  promptly 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  pretended  Warwick,  who 
was  really  an  impostor,  and  whose  true  name  was 
Lambert  Simnel.     He  was  the  son  of  an  , 

Lambert 

English  shoemaker.  Nevertheless,  the  simnei  in 
earl  of  Kildare  himself,  and  many  of  ^""^^^"^ 
the  nobles  and  chiefs  in  Ireland,  both  English  and 
Irish,  recognized  Simnel  as  the  rightful  king  of  Eng- 
land ;  and  Simnel  was  solemnly  crowned  in  Christ- 
church  cathedral,  Dublin,  by  the  bishop  of  Meath. 
His  partisans,  emboldened  by  this  event,  lost  no  time 
in  preparing  to  make  good  his  claim  in  England. 

The  French  duchess  of  Burgundy,  who  was  a 
bitter  foe  of  Henry,  sent  a  fleet,  with  two  thousand 
veteran  soldiers,  to  the  pretender's  aid.  The  com- 
bined forces  of  French  and  Irish,  with  many  English 
Yorkists,  in  all  about  eight  thousand,  landed  on  the 
Lancashire  coast,  and  boldly  marched  into  Yorkshire. 


104         YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

Thence  they  moved  southward,  and  were  confronted 
by  Henry  and  his  army  near  Newark.  After  an 
Defeat  of  the   obstinatc    battle,    Henry   was   victorious. 

pretender.  -pj^g     gg^j-J    ^f     LiuColu,     tWO     of     the     Gcral- 

dines,  and  Sir  Thomas  Broughton,  on  the  pretender's 
side,  were  killed  ;  and  Lambert  Simnel  himself  was 
taken  prisoner.  The  king  treated  his  defeated  ene- 
mies with  singular  leniency.  He  pardoned  Simnel, 
who  afterwards  became  a  servant  in  the  royal  kitchen  ; 
and,  what  is  still  more  strange,  he  permitted  the  earl 
of  Kildare  to  continue  as  governor  of  Ireland  in 
spite  of  his  treason.  As  for  the  rest  of  the  survivors 
of  the  expedition,  they  were  allowed  to  go  free,  no 
punishment  being  inflicted  upon  them. 

The  failure  of  Simnel's  attempt  did  not  wholly 
discourage  those  who  wished  to  drive  Henry  from 
the  English  throne.  Five  years  afterwards,  another 
Perkin  prctcndcr,   Perkin  Warbeck,  who  claimed 

Warbeck.        ^q  ]^q  ^]^q  ^h]^q  of  York,  son  of    Edward 

the  Fourth,  and  one  of  the  princes  who  were  sup- 
posed to  have  been  murdered  in  the  Tower  of  London, 
landed  in  Ireland.  He,  too,  was  supported  by  the 
duchess  of  Burgundy,  and  was  also  encouraged  by 
the  French  king.  His  first  visit  to  Ireland  produced 
no  result  ;  but  a  few  years  later,  after  many  adven- 
tures, he  again  made  his  appearance  on  Irish  soil. 
He  was  now  joined  by  the  great  earl  of  Desmond, 
of  the  Geraldine  family,  and  by  many  of  the  Irish 
and  English  of  Cork.  He  laid  siege  to  Waterford, 
but  was  forced  to  give  up  the  attempt  to  take  that 


THE    IRISH    PARLIAMENT.  IO5 

town.  Then  Desmond  deserted  him,  and  Warbeck 
retreated  to  Scotland.  He  was  at  last  capture  of 
captured  by  Henry's  adherents,  and  exe-  "Warbeck. 
cuted  (1499).  Desmond  sought  and  obtained  the 
king's  pardon,  and  remained  as  powerful  as  ever  on 
his  domain.  But  Kildare,  his  kinsman,  was  not  let 
off  so  easily.  He  was  thrown  into  prison  in  England, 
and  his  wife  died  of  the  terror  caused  by  the  fear 
that  he  might  be  executed. 

The  Irish  Parliament  had  originally  comprised  an  as- 
sembly of  the  lords,  bishops,  and  the  principal  English 
landlords,  who  were  summoned  to  register  The  Irish 
the  king's  commands,  to  consult  about  the  Par^^ai^ent. 
raising  of  money,  and  to  advise  the  king  concerning 
the  affairs  of  the  island ;  and  its  rise  had  taken  place 
soon  after  the  first  intrusion  of  the  English.  In  the 
thirteenth  century,  members,  called  ''knights  of  the 
shire,"  representing  the  counties,  took  their  seats  m 
Parliament ;  and,  towards  the  close  of  the  same  century, 
"burgesses,"  representing  the  towns,  were  admitted 
to  its  sessions.  Parliament  was  summoned  to  meet  by 
the  king's  representative  in  Ireland,  sometimes  fre- 
quently, and  sometimes  at  rare  intervals.  There  was 
no  stated  time  for  it  to  assemble.  It  generally  met  at 
Dublin  ;  but  now  and  then  it  was  called  upon  to  meet 
at  Kilkenny,  or  at  Drogheda.  At  some  periods,  there 
seem  to  have  been  at  least  two  parliaments  in  Ireland. 
One,  composed  of  the  lords,  bishops,  and  commons  of 
Leinster,  met  at  the  same  time  that  another,  similarly 
composed,  was  sitting  in  Munster. 


I06         YOUNG   people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

For  a  long  time  the  Irish  Parliament  had  been 
subject  to  the  powerful  influence  of  the  earl  of 
Power  of  Kildare  and  a  few  other  great  Anglo-Irish 
Kiidare.  lords.     It  had  by  no  means  been  obedient 

to  the  English  crown.  On  one  occasion,  it  ventured 
to  choose  a  viceroy  or  governor,  instead  of  the  one 
who  had  been  appointed  by  the  king.  On  another,  it 
declared  boldly  that  Ireland  was  only  bound  to  obey 
the  laws  of  the  Irish  Parliament.  It  recognized 
Simnel  as  the  rightful  heir  to  the  English  crown, 
and  abetted  the  Geraldines  —  the  earls  of  Kildare 
and  Desmond  —  in  their  rebellions.  It  gave  protec- 
tion to  the  plotters  against  the  English  king,  and  to 
disloyal  Englishmen  who  repaired  to  Ireland  to  escape 
capture  and  punishment.  In  the  time  of  Henry  the 
Seventh,  the  Irish  Parliament  had  somewhat  changed 
its  character.    There  were  now  two  houses, 

Two  houses. 

the  upper  and  lower.  In  the  upper  house 
sat  the  lords,  bishops,  abbots,  and  priors.  The  lower 
house  was  composed  of  the  knights  of  the  shire  and 
the  burgesses.  Thus  the  Irish  Parliament,  in  its 
composition,  now  much  resembled  that  of  England. 

King  Henry  was  at  last  fully  aroused  to  the  neces- 
sity of  paying  some  attention  to  Ireland.  He  looked 
upon  Ireland  as  a  part  of  his  dominions,  yet  neither 
the  English  settlers  nor  the  native  Irish  were  loyal 
to  his  crown.  Twice  had  Ireland  been  the  starting- 
points  of  attempts  to  drive  him  from  his  throne. 
He  therefore  sent  over  Sir  Edward  Poyning  with  a 
thousand  soldiers,  to  restore,  if  possible,  the  royal 


THE    IRISH    PARLIAMENT.  TO/ 

authority.  Poyning,  like  his  master  the  king,  was  a 
stern,  resolute  man.  He  called  together  the  Irish 
Parliament,  and  caused  it  to  re-affirm  the  Kilkenny 
law  which  had  been  imposed  by  Clarence  more  than 
a  century  before.  One  or  two  of  its  provisions  were, 
however,  omitted.  Parliament  was  also  compelled 
to  pass  a  law,  which  is  known  in  history  Poyning's 
as  "  Poyning's  Law,"  declaring  that  no  ^^^• 
Parliament  should  thenceforth  assemble  in  Ireland, 
until  the  measures  it  intended  to  pass  had  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  king  and  his  council,  and  had  been 
approved  by  them.  The  laws  passed  by  the  Irish 
Parliament,  moreover,  were  to  be  sent  to  the  English 
council,  the  members  of  which  might  alter  them 
at  pleasure ;  and,  after  they  had  been  sent  back  to 
Ireland  thus  amended,  they  could  not  be  further 
changed  by  the  Irish  houses. 

These  were  not  the  only  measures  which  the  de- 
termined Poynings  procured  from  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment. The  custom  of  ''  coyne  and  liv-  coyne  and 
ery,"  or  quartering  soldiers  in  the  houses  "^^ry. 
of  the  people,  was  forbidden.  The  land-owners  were 
required  to  live  upon  their  estates.  The  freemen  of 
the  towns  were  prohibited  from  entering  the  service 
of  the  lords ;  and  it  was  declared  treason  to  instigate 
the  native  Irish  to  war.  These  were  good  laws,  and 
were  intended  to  protect  the  people  from  the  tyranny 
of  the  nobles.  Poyning,  moreover,  caused  a  law  to 
be  passed,  that  the  chief  officials  and  judges  should 
hold  office  at  the  king's  discretion,  and  not,  as  before, 


I08         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

for  life.  The  effect  of  Poyning's  Law  was  what 
the  king  had  intended.  The  Irish  Parliament,  often 
rebellious  and  never  thoroughly  loyal,  was  stripped 
of  all  real  power,  reduced  to  helplessness,  and  be- 
came merely  an  assembly  to  proclaim  such  laws  as 
England  chose  that  Ireland  should  have.  Poyning 
demanded  one  more  act  of  this  Parliament  before  it 
was  dissolved.  This  was,  that  it  should  condemn  the 
The  Earl  of  carl  of  Kildarc,  who  had  given  Henry  so 
Kiidare.  much  troublc,  as  a  traitor.  The  pliant 
houses  yielded  to  the  demand,  and  then  separated. 

The  earl  of  Kiidare  was  a  very  bold,  audacious, 
quick-witted  man.  He  had  always  held  close  rela- 
tions with  the  native  Irish,  and  had  shown  himself  to 
be  not  only  an  inveterate,  but  a  formidable  enemy  of 
the  English  crown.  No  sooner,  however,  did  he  find 
himself  Henry's  prisoner,  than  he  formed  a  scheme 
to  recover  his  freedom,  and  to  return  to  Ireland 
more  powerful  than  ever.  He  had  been  charged, 
among  other  things,  with  having  caused  the  cathedral 
of  Cashel  to  be  set  on  fire.  To  this  he  bluntly  re- 
plied, in  the  presence  of  the  king,  that  he  would 
not  have  done  so,  if  he  had  not  supposed  that  the 
archbishop  was  inside.  The  archbishop  was  a  close 
Kiidare's  adherent  of  the  earl  of  Ormond,  Kildare's 
audacity.  bitter  rival.  Henry  was  amused  at  this 
audacious  answer,  and  told  Kiidare  that  he  might 
choose  any  advocate  he  chose  to  plead  his  cause.  "I 
fear,"  was  Kildare's  reply,  *'that  your  Highness  will 
not  permit  me  to  choose  the  honest  man  I  prefer." 


THE    IRISH    PARLIAMENT.  lOQ 

The  king  assured  him  that  he  would.  "Then,"  said 
the  earl,  *'  I  know  no  better  man  to  defend  me  than 
your  Highness's  self,  nor  will  I  choose  any  other." 

The  archbishop  of  Cashel  and  the  earl  of  Ormond, 
who  were  present,  cried  out  at  this,  **A11  Ireland 
cannot  rule  the  earl  of  Kildare  ! "  Whereupon 
Henry,  who  had  been  completely  won  by  Kildare's 
boldness,  said,  ''Then  shall  he  rule  all  Ireland." 
Kildare  was  not  only  pardoned  on  the  spot,  but  was 
appointed  lord-lieutenant  of    Ireland,  and   ,,.,, 

^^  _  ^  '  Kildare  made 

received  Elizabeth  St.  John,  cousin  of  lord-iieu- 
the  king,  as  his  second  wife.  He  re-  *^"^"*' 
turned  to  Dublin  armed  with  almost  royal  power. 
And  now,  completely  changing  his  conduct,  he  be- 
came entirely  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  Eng- 
lish crown.  His  government  was  stronger  than  any 
that  Ireland  had  seen  for  sixty  years.  He  asserted 
his  authority  over  the  Anglo-Irish  barons  and  the 
natives  alike,  and  vigorously  suppressed  all  resist- 
ance to  his  will. 

In  an  obstinate  conflict  with  the  clan  of  Burke, 
Kildare  entirely  overcame  his  enemy  at  the  battle  of 
Knockdoe  (1504).  In  the  later  years  of  Battle  of 
his  rule,  Kildare  seems  to  have  become  knockdoe. 
almost  the  absolute  master  of  Ireland.  He  went 
hither  and  thither  as  he  pleased  in  the  island,  sup- 
pressed and  raised  up  chiefs,  and  planted  his  garrisons 
in  many  places  where  the  English  had  not  before 
secured  a  foothold.  This  energetic  and  unscrupu- 
lous lord  remained  in  power  as  governor  of  Ireland 


no         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


until  his  death  (15 17).  He  is  described  by  an  old 
writer,  as  "  of  tall  stature  and  goodly  presence ;  very 
liberal  and  merciful ;  of  strict  piety ;  mild  in  his 
government;  passionate,  but  easily  appeased."  The 
English  colony  in  Ireland,  indeed,  produced  few 
abler  men,  few  more  brilliant  rulers  or  generals,  than 
Gerald,  earl  of  Kildare. 


HENRY    THE    EIGHTH    AND    IRELAND.  Ill 


CHAPTER   XV. 

HENRY  THE  EIGHTH  AND  IRELAND. 

THE  rule  of  the  earl  of  Kildare  marked  the  turn- 
ing point  in  favor  of  English  ascendancy  in 
Ireland.  There  were  to  be  many  and  terrible  strug- 
gles before  the  English  power  established  full  sway 
over  the  heroic  and  patriotic  clans  throughout  the 
island ;  but,  from  the  time  of  Kildare,  the  chiefs  of 
the  ancient  families  gradually  lost  more  and  more 
their  hold  upon  the  country.  Thenceforth,  victory 
was  to  attend  the  effort  of  the  English  to  subdue 
Ireland.  When  Henry  the  Seventh  died  (1509), 
leaving  the  throne  to  his  despotic  son,  Henry  the 
Eighth,  the  new  king  was  even  more  firmly  Henry  the 
resolved  than  his  father  had  been  to  fasten  ^'g^^*^- 
the  yoke  of  English  government  upon  the  Irish. 
But,  at  first,  Henry  the  Eighth  was  disposed  to  try 
mild  measures.  He  declared  that,  while  the  power  of 
the  crown  should  be  strictly  maintained  in  Ireland, 
he  would  also  endeavor  to  win  the  native  chiefs,  by 
bestowing  royal  favors  upon  them,  and  securing  them 
in  their  domains,  and  thus  gain  their  allegiance. 
But  soon  a  grave  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  fulfil- 


112  YOUNG    PEOPLES    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

ment  of  Henry's  plans  arose,  in  the  conduct  of 
the  more  than  ever  formidable  family  of  Kildare. 
Gerald  of  Thc  great  earl  had  left  a  son,  Gerald,  who 
Kildare.  ^^g  appointed  lord-deputy  in  his  place. 
This  new  earl  of  Kildare  was  hot-headed  and  insub- 
ordinate. The  king  could  not  rely  upon  his  loyalty ; 
and,  before  he  had  long  been  in  authority  in  Ireland, 
Kildare  was  charged  by  his  rivals,  the  family  of 
Ormond,  with  high  treason.  Three  times  was  Kil 
dare  summoned  to  England  to  answer  this  charge, 
and  three  times  was  he  deposed  from  the  lord-deputy- 
ship.  At  last  he  was  thrown  into  the  Tower  of 
London.  His  son  Thomas,  a  youth  of  twenty,  who, 
from  the  elegance  of  his  attire,  was  called  "  Silken 
Thomas,"  was  acting  in  Ireland,  in  his  place,  as  vice- 
deputy.  For  purposes  of  his  own,  Henry  caused  a 
rumor  to  be  spread  in  Ireland  that  Kildare  had  been 
Thomas  of  bcheadcd.  This  aroused  Thomas  to  a 
Kildare.  frcuzy  of  gricf  and  rage.  Entering  the 
council  chamber  in  St.  Mary's  abbey,  Dublin,  at  the 
head  of  a  hundred  and  forty  retainers,  he  threw  his 
sword  of  office  violently  upon  the  council  table,  and 
declared  that  he  renounced  his  allegiance  to  the 
English  king. 

A  struo;o;le  forthwith  broke  out  between  the  im- 
petuous  young  scion  of  Kildare  and  Henry's  ad- 
herents in  Ireland.  Henry,  prompted  by  his  great 
minister,  cardinal  Wolsey,  grimly  made  up  his  mind 
to  crush  once  and  for  all  the  power  of  the  restless 
and  untrustworthy  Geraldines  of  Kildare.    Thomas  of 


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HENRY    THE    EIGHTH    AND    IRELAND.  II3 

Kildare,  on  the  other  hand,  declared  war  to  the  bitter 
end  against  the  English.  He  besieged  Dublin,  but 
in  vain.  He  seized  the  long-time  enemy  of  his 
house,  the  archbishop  of  Cashel,  and  caused  him  to 
be  murdered.  He  appealed  to  the  O'Connors,  the 
O'Mores,  and  other  chiefs,  to  come  to  his  aid.  But 
the  fiery  young  Geraldine  soon  met  with  a  fatal 
check.  The  castle  of  Maynooth,  supposed  siege  of 
to  be  proof  against  every  assault,  was  gar-  Maynooth. 
risoned  by  Irish  soldiers.  It  was  now  vigorously 
besieged  by  a  well-disciplined  English  force  under 
Skeffington. 

Gunpowder  had  recently  come  into  use,  and  the 
English  were  armed  with  guns  and  artillery.  The 
Irish  had  still  only  their  ancient  weapons,  —  swords 
and  spears.  The  result  was  that  the  English  cannon 
soon  made  a  breach  in  the  fortress  of  Maynooth,  and 
that  once  impregnable  stronghold  was  taken.  Young 
Thomas  saw  that  all  was  lost,  and  surrendered  his 
person  to  the  mercies  of  the  English  monarch. 
Henry  promised  to  pardon  him ;  but,  as  soon  as  he 
reached  London,  Thomas  was  thrown  into  the  Tower 
of  London,  where  his  father,  the  earl  of  Kildare,  had 
recently  died  of  a  broken  heart.  The  extinction  of 
the  Geraldines  of  Kildare  was  now  sternly  resolved 
upon,  and  this  end  was  to  be  attained  by  treachery. 
The  new  lord-deputy  of  Ireland  was  Lord  Leonard 
Gray,  who  had  married  a  sister  of  the  late  earl  of 
Kildare.  Five  of  the  earl's  brothers  were  living  in 
Ireland.     Three  of  them  were  loyal  to  the  English 


114  YOUNG    PEOPLES    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

crown.  Yet  it  was  determined  to  get  rid  of  them 
all. 

Gray  invited  his  five  brothers-in-law  to  a  great  ban- 
quet, seized  them  as  they  sat  at  table,  and  caused 
them  to  be  sent  as  prisoners  to  London.     The  next 
,  year  all  five  of  the  Geraldine  brothers  and 

Execution  of    -' 

the  Gerai-  Thomas,  their  nephew,  were  hanged,  on 
dines.  ^^^  charge  of  high  treason,  on  Tyburn  Hill. 

A  younger  son  of  the  late  earl,  however,  escaped  the 
fate  of  his  brother  and  uncles,  and  in  after  years  was 
restored  to  the  earldom  of  Kildare.  The  effect  in 
Ireland  of  the  execution  of  the  Geraldines  was  to 
greatly  increase  and  extend  the  power  of  the  crown. 
Gray  was  a  vigorous  ruler,  and  lost  no  time  in  follow- 
ing up  his  advantage.  He  successively  subdued 
O'Connor,  the  Geraldines  of  Munster,  and  finally 
Capture  of  O'Neil.  Ho  capturcd  Athlone,  the  great 
Athione.  stroughold  of  Counaught,  and  reduced  the 
Burkes  to  inaction,  if  not  to  submission  (1538). 

Meanwhile,  the  great  movement  of  religious  refor- 
mation had  begun  in  England.  Henry  the  Eighth, 
bent  on  divorcing  his  first  wife,  Katherine  of  Aragon, 
and  marrying  Anne  Boleyn,  had  had  a  rupture  with 
the  pope  of  Rome,  who  forbade  the  divorce ;  and  had 
declared  himself  to  be  the  only  head  of  the  church 
and  clergy  in  England.      He    had    followed    up  this 

Henr  'sseiz  ^"^^^  coursc  by  supprcssiug  a  large  num- 
ure  of  the  bcr  of  monasteries,  and  taking  possession 
monasteries.  ^£  their  houscs  and  lands  for  the  crown. 
He    adopted   the    same    policy    towards    the    Irish 


HENRY  THE  EIGHTH  AND  IRELAND.       II 5 

monasteries,  which  he  had  no  fair  excuse  for  doing. 
The  Irish  priests  and  monks  had  not,  like  many  of 
those  in  England,  become  corrupt,  immoral,  and  neg- 
lectful of  their  pious  duties.  They  still  zealously 
sustained  religion  and  fostered  learning.  Schools 
were  held  within  the  monastery  walls.  The  monks 
lodged  travellers,  were  active  in  charities,  and  often 
acted  as  mediators  between  rival  and  quarrelsome 
chiefs.  Their  influence  among  the  people  was  the 
best  and  most  hopeful  feature  of  Irish  life. 

But  these  facts  had  no  influence  upon  the  despotic 
Henry.  Gray,  the  lord-deputy  of  Ireland,  summoned 
an  Irish  Parliament,  and  demanded  that  it,  too,  should 
declare  the  English  king  the  supreme  head  of  the 
church.  His  demand  was  strenuously  resisted  by 
the  bishops  and  abbots,  and  by  many  of  the  lords; 
and  they  succeeded  in  preventing  the  declaration 
from  being  made  (1537).  Gray  now  took  an  arbitrary 
course.  He  caused  Parliament  to  exclude  the  proc- 
tors from  the  upper  House.  Henry  was  then  de- 
clared the  sole  head  of  the  Irish  Church. 
More  than  four  hundred  monasteries  and  declared  the 
abbeys  were  suppressed,  and  their  prop  ^°'^  ^^^^  °^ 
erties  were  confiscated  to  the  English 
crown.  If  the  abbot  of  one  of  the  suppressed  mon- 
asteries resisted,  he  was  thrown  into  prison.  The 
edict  was  carried  out  by  force.  Those  abbots  and 
monks  who  peacefully  submitted  to  it,  and  went 
quietly  away,  were  granted  small  sums  of  money, 
and,  in  some  cases,  annual  stipends. 


Il6         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

Thus  Gray,  during  the  two  years  of  his  severe  and 
energetic  rule,  had  not  only  subdued  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment, but  the  church  also,  to  the  power  of  the  crown. 
Ireland  had  not  been  so  tranquil,  as  now,  for  many 
generations.  Never  had  she  so  felt  the  iron  hand  of 
,     the  oppressinsj  race.     The   Eno-lish   Pale 

Increase  of  ^^  ^  ^  ^ 

English  had  been  enlarged ;  and  its  English  occu- 

power.  pants  had  been  strengthened,  so  that  they 

no  longer  paid  tributes,  for  their  safety's  sake,  to  the 
outlying  Irish  clans.  Many  of  the  native  chiefs  had 
given  up  the  lands,  that  they  might  be  given  back  to 
them  by  the  king,  in  return  for  their  sworn  loyalty 
to  the  crown  ;  and  such  chiefs  were  protected  by  the 
lord-deputy,  and  accepted  the  English  instead  of  the 
old  Brehon  law.  They  could  thereby  sell  their  land, 
compel  the  tenants  to  pay  rent  for  it,  and  bequeath 
it  to  their  children.  The  land  was  no  longer,  as 
formerly,  the  common  property  of  the  tribe. 

Having  thus  imposed  his  authority  on  the  English 
settlers  and  on  a  number  of  the  Irish  chiefs,  and 
asserted  his  ability  to  maintain  his  dominion  in  Ire- 
land, Henry  the  Eighth  entered  upon  a  course  of 
conciliation.  Many  of  the  greater  native  princes 
and  chiefs  still  held  aloof.  St.  Leger,  who  succeeded 
Gray  as  lord-deputy,  undertook  the  task  of  winning 
them  over.  In  no  long  time,  the  king  had  secured 
Allegiance  of  the  allegiance  of  the  O'Mores,  the  O'Con- 
the  chiefs.  j^Qj-s^  ^Y\Q  O'MelaghHns,  the  O'Carrolls,  the 
O'Tooles,  and  other  chiefs  of  eastern  Ireland.  He 
had  also  conciliated  the  earl  of  Desmond,  the  head 


HENRY    THE    EIGHTH    AND    IRELAND.  II/ 

of  the  Munster  branch  of  the  Geraldines,  and  Mc- 
William,  earl  of  Clanricarde,  —  two  great  EngHsh 
lords  who  had  been  hostile.  St.  Leger  called  Parlia- 
ment together,  in  which,  for  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  Ireland,  English  lords  and  Irish  chiefs 
sat  side  by  side.     This    Parliament   con-   „ 

•'  Henry  recog- 

firmed    Henry   as   the   sole   head   of   the  nizedas^King 
Church,  and  recognized  him  as   '*  king  of  °^  ^^eiand. 
Ireland."     Before  that  time,  the  English  kings  had 
always  been  known  as  "lords  of  Ireland." 

These  acts  were  followed  by  a  series  of  brilliant 
festivities  in  Dublin.  The  hilltops  glowed  with  bon- 
fires ;  the  cannon  roared  from  the  castle ;  an  amnesty 
of  all  prisoners  was  proclaimed.  Henry  hastened  to 
bind  more  closely  the  allegiance  of  the  chiefs  who 
had  come  in,  by  grants  of  land ;  and  some  of  the  chiefs 
went  to  London  to  witness  and  be  impressed  by  the 
splendors  of  Henry's  royal  court.  Dazzled  by  these 
things,  some  of  the  princes,  who  had  hitherto  held 
proudly  aloof,  gave  in  their  submission.  Of  these 
the  chief  were  O'Brien,  who  received  his  reward  by 
beins:  created  earl  of  Thomond:  O'Donnel  ^^     ^.  , 

o  '  The  chiefs 

of  Ulster ;  and  even  the  haughty  O'Neil,  created 
who  accepted  from  the  king  the  title  of  ^^"^' 
earl  of  Tyrone.  Henry  followed  up  these  submis- 
sions by  suppressing  the  monasteries  in  the  districts 
thus  added  to  his  dominion,  seizing  the  church  lands, 
and  bestowing  them  upon  the  newly  conciliated  chiefs. 
He  also  caused  large  sums  of  money  to  be  paid  to 
them,  and  gave  to  each  loyal  chief  a  house  in  Dublin, 


Il8  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

that  "  they  might  suck  in  civility  with  the  air  of  the 
court." 

After  the  death  of  Henry  the  Eighth  (1547),  the 
protector  Somerset  controlled  the  affairs  of  England 
during  the  minority  of  the  boy  king,  Edward  the 
Sixth.  He  went  much  farther  than  Henry  had  done 
in  trying  to  force  the  English  people  away  from 
Somerset's  their  ancicut  faith  ;  and  the  same  rigorous 
severity.  mcthods  which  he  employed  in  England, 
he  applied  to  Ireland  for  the  same  purpose.  Not 
content  with  the  suppression  of  the  monasteries,  and 
the  seizing  and  dividing-up  of  their  lands,  Somerset, 
aided  by  Cranmer,  sought  to  compel  the  Irish  church 
to  use  the  new  Protestant  liturgy,  instead  of  the  old 
Catholic  one.  The  archbishop  of  Armagh,  however, 
who  was  at  the  head  of  the  Irish  church,  and  almost 
all  the  priesthood,  refused  to  accept  it  ;  while  five 
of  the  Anglo-Irish  bishops  submitted.  Meanwhile 
Resistance  ^^^  pcoplc,  outragcd  by  the  violence  com- 
to  Protes-  mitted  upon  the  ancient  relics,  —  upon 
an  ism.  ^^^  shrincs  and  tombs,  and  the  abbeys 
of  their  church, — by  the  soldiers  of  the  lord-deputy, 
resisted,  wherever  they  could,  the  imposition  of  the 
new  faith. 

The  accession  of  Mary,  a  Catholic,  to  the  throne 
of  England,  was  the  signal  for  a  pause  in  the  attempt 
to  revolutionize  the  Irish  church.  The  bishops  who 
had  refused  to  accept  the  new  liturgy  were  recalled 
from  exile ;  those  who  had  accepted  it  were  turned 
out  of  their  sees,  and  fled  for  safety ;  and  the  young 


HENRV    THE    EIGHTH    AND    IRELAND.  II9 

earl  of  Kildare,  who  had  stood  stoutly  by  the  ancient 
faith,  was  restored  to  his  title  and  domains.    .,  ,.   ,. 

'  Catholic 

The  Protestant  prayer-book  was  forbidden,   re-acuon  in 

J  •  1     •        T      1         i»       Ireland. 

and  mass  was  once  more  said  in  Ireland  s 
venerable  cathedrals.  The  people  were  allowed  to 
worship  according  to  the  faith  to  which  they  clung. 
The  church  lands,  indeed,  which  had  been  taken 
away,  and  given  to  Englishmen,  were  not  restored 
to  their  former  possessors.  On  the  contrary,  Mary 
continued  the  practice  of  granting  such  lands  to 
her  courtiers  and  favorites.  But,  for  a  brief  period, 
the  Anglo-Irish  and  the  native  clans  were  allowed  to 
worship  according  to  the  old  religion  in  peace. 


120         YOUNG   people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

SHANE    o'nEIL. 

IT  was  during  the  long  reign  of  Elizabeth,  that 
that  fierce  conflict  between  the  rival  Catholic  and 
Protestant  churches  in  Ireland  began,  which  endured, 
Conflict  be-  S-lmost  without  pausc,  down  to  the  nine- 
tween  the  tccuth  ccntury.  It  was  also  during  her 
reign,  that  the  system  of  "  planting "  Ire- 
land with  English  colonies  was  deliberately  adopted 
as  the  policy  of  the  crown,  and  relentlessly  pursued. 
That  stern  and  self-willed  queen,  inheriting  all  the 
despotic  traits  of  her  family,  was  even  more  resolute 
and  persistent,  if  possible,  than  her  father  had  been, 
in  reducing  Ireland  to  absolute  political  and  religious 
subjection  to  English  rule.  But  she  was  destined 
to  experience  many  obstacles,  and  to  undergo  many 
mortifications,  before  she  could  attain  her  end.  Nor 
did  she  ever  attain  her  end  completely. 

In  spite  of  the  submission  of  so  many  of  the 
Anglo-Irish  and  native  lords  to  Henry,  patriotism,  a 
Patriotism  ficrcc  cHuging  to  independence,  still  sur- 
of  the  Irish,  ^i^ej  in  Ireland.  O'Neil,  O'Brien,  O'Don- 
nel,  and   other  chiefs    of   ancient  lineage,  had  sold 


SHANE    o'nEIL.  121 


their  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage.  But  many 
great  chiefs,  as  well  as  many  lesser  chiefs  and  the 
mass  of  the  tribesmen,  were  far  from  subdued  to 
English  rule.  There  were  leading  men,  too,  who 
were  not  only  dissatisfied,  but  were  eager  to  lead 
revolts  against  the  English  and  their  Irish  allies. 
Among  them  were  the  valiant  young  sons  of  O'Neil 
and  O'Donnel.  Especially  active  in  his  hostility  to 
the  recent  changes  was  Shane  O'Neil,  one  shane 
of  the  most  striking  figures  in  Irish  history.  O'Neii. 
His  elder  half-brother,  Matthew,  who  was  an  illegiti- 
mate son  of  the  newly  created  earl  of  Tyrone,  had 
been  declared  the  earl's  heir.  Shane  was  naturally 
outraged  that  an  illegitimate  son  should  be  preferred 
to  him,  who  was  the  earl's  eldest  son  born  in  wed- 
lock. But  Shane  was  not  influenced  by  this  feeling 
alone.  He  showed  the  same  proud  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence which  had  so  long  marked  the  royal  race  of 
O'Neil.  He  was  bitterly  angry  with  his  father  for 
humbling  himself  to  the  English  king,  and  for  stoop- 
ing to  accept  from  him  the  earldom  of  Tyrone. 

Shane  O'Neil  resolved  to  make  a  desperate  attempt 
to  shake  off  the  English  yoke.  He  went  among  the 
native  Irish,  urging  them  to  resist  the  foreigners. 
He  caused  his  half-brother,  the  illegitimate  Matthew, 
to  be  killed  ;  and  he  succeeded  in  drawing  his  father, 
the  earl  of  Tyrone,  away  from  the  English  side.  He 
then  undertook  the  task  of  preventing  the  English 
settlers  from  planting  themselves  in  Ulster,  and  of 
frightening  the  Ulster  chiefs  into  submission  to  his 


122         YOUNG    PEOPLES    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

rule.  He  tried  hard  to  unite  the  Irish  ;  while  Sussex, 
Revolt  of  the  lord-lieutenant,  tried  as  hard  to  sow 
Shane.  disseusions  among  them.     O'Neil  sent  to 

the  French  king  for  aid,  but  in  vain.  Meanwhile 
Sussex  gathered  a  large  force  with  which  to  crush 
the  bold  young  rebel  of  the  North.  But  Shane,  at 
the  head  of  seven  thousand  determined  Irishmen, 
was  not  so  easily  overcome.  After  a  campaign,  from 
which  he  derived  neither  advantage  nor  glory,  Sussex 
resolved  to  resort  to  treachery.  He  hired  a  man 
named  Gray,  for  a  piece  of  land,  to  assassinate 
Shane  ;  but  Gray  failed  to  carry  out  the  plan.  Then 
Sussex  sent  Shane  some  poisoned  wine,  in  the  hope 
that  he  would  drink  it,  and  so  die.  But  this  attempt 
also  failed. 

At  this  juncture  the  earl  of  Kildare,  who  was  a 
cousin  of  Shane  O'Neil,  and  was  also  friendly  to  the 
English  power,  brought  about  a  cessation  of  hostili- 
shane  goes  tics.  Shauc  was  pcrsuadcd  to  go  to  Lon- 
to  London,  ^q^  ^^^  make  his  peace  with  the  haughty 
queen.  He  was  promised  liberal  and  generous  treat- 
ment. He  accordingly  repaired,  with  a  retinue  of 
Irish  soldiers  attired  in  their  native  costume  of  saffron 
shirts,  fur  jackets,  sandalled  shoes,  and  long,  curled 
hair,  to  the  brilliant  court  of  Elizabeth.  The  Irish 
chief  was  graciously  received  by  the  queen,  who  ad- 
mired the  stalwart  forms  of  Shane  and  his  men,  and 
who  was  not  less  politic  than  despotic  in  her  nature. 
A  treaty  was  soon  made  between  them.  Elizabeth 
acknowledged  Shane  O'Neil  as  "  Captain  of  Tyrone;" 


SHANE    O  NEIL.  1 23 

but  she  did  not  yet  award  him  the  earldom,  which 
the  recent  death  of  his  father  had  left  vacant.  She 
also  promised  that  her  troops  should  be  withdrawn 
from  a  portion  of  Ulster.  Shane,  on  his  side,  agreed 
to  set  at  liberty  the  chief  O'Donnel,  whom  he  held 
as  a  prisoner,  and  to  drive  out  a  certain  settlement 
of  Scots,  which  had  recently  been  made  on  the  north- 
eastern coast  of  Ireland. 

Shane's  promise  to  exterminate  this  Scottish  set- 
tlement, in  order  to  please  the  English  queen,  was 
an  act  of  sheer  treachery ;  for  the  Scottish  colonists 
had  stood  stoutly  by  him  in  all  his  contests  with  his 
English  foes.  It  was  at  their  hands,  finally,  that 
his  ruin  came,  as  a  retribution  for  his  treason  to 
them.  He  returned  to  Ulster,  and  there  continued 
his  work  of    subduino^  the  jealous   chiefs  „, 

<=>  •>  Shane  sub- 

who  still  defied  his  power.  He  soon  dues  the 
showed  that  he  held  lightly  his  pledges  to 
Elizabeth ;  but  so  embroiled,  at  that  time,  was  Eng- 
land with  Scotland  and  the  Continental  powers,  that 
Elizabeth  was  forced  to  conciliate  the  bold  Irish  chief 
by  new  concessions.  She  now  recognized  him  as  earl 
of  Tyrone,  and  gave  him  all  the  power  that  his  father 
had  enjoyed.  Shane,  although  he  refused  to  intrust 
himself  again  at  the  English  court,  received  the 
queen's  envoys  with  lavish  hospitality,  and  concluded 
wdth  them  a  new  treaty  of  peace. 

His  power  in  Ulster  was  now  greater  than  it  had 
ever  been.  One  of  the  first  uses  that  he  made  of  it 
was  to  fulfil  his  promise  to  extirpate  the  Scottish  set- 


124         YOUNG   people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

tiers.     He  let  loose  his  fierce  soldiers  suddenly  upon 
them,  and  caused  them  to  be    ruthlessly 
power  in        killed   or  driven  out.     A  period  of   com- 
^^^^^^-  parative  tranquillity  ensued,  during  which 

Shane  ruled  in  Ulster  with  a  strong  hand.  He  re- 
frained from  assailing  the  English  of  the  Pale.  Crops 
were  abundantly  grown  in  the  province,  and  lawless- 
ness was  severely  punished.  Two  years  thus  passed, 
during  which  Shane's  government  was  vigorous  and 
successful.  But,  all  the  while,  the  English  were  at 
heart  jealous  of  his  rule;  and  Shane  was  in  reality 
War  be  Cfuitc  as  hostilc  to  them.  The  war  broke 
tween  Ulster  out  aucw  bctwecn  Ulstcr  and  the  Pale, 
and  the  Pale,  g-^  Hcury  Sidney  arrived  in  Ireland,  as 
lord-deputy  (1565),  to  find  the  conflict  fiercely  raging. 
He  at  once  made  common  cause  with  those  Ulster 
chiefs  who  had  always  hated,  and,  when  they  could, 
had  always  resisted  Shane  O'Neil. 

Some  of  Shane's  old  friends  and  allies,  moreover, 
notably  O'Donnel,  earl  of  Tyrconnel,  perceiving  that 
Shane's  cause  was  fast  losing  ground,  joined  his 
enemies.  The  bold  Ulster  chief  was  at  last  brought 
to  bay.  In  his  desperation,  Shane  turned  for  help 
and  protection  to  the  remnant  of  that  very  Scottish 
colony  upon  whom  he  had,  to  please  the  English 
queen,  wreaked  such  savage  cruelties.  With  a  few 
Ulstermen  who  remained  faithful  to  him,  he  reck- 
lessly threw  himself  upon  the  mercy  of  the  Scots. 
They  received  him  with  apparent  good-grace,  and 
offered  him  a  refuge  from  his  foes.     But,  in  reality. 


SHANE    O  NEIL.  12$ 

the  Scots,  who  had  lost  fathers,  brothers,  sons,  at  the 
hands  of  Shane's  murderous  emissaries,  had  ven- 
ireance   in   their   hearts.      One   day   they  ,,    , 

o      _  J  J     Murder  of 

invited  Shane  and  his  retainers  to  a  feast,  shane 
Barring  the  doors  of  the  banqueting-room,  ^  ^^'^• 
they  fell  upon  their  captives  ;  and  Shane  and  every- 
one of  his  followers  were  killed  upon  the  spot. 

Shane  O'Neil  had  committed  many  crimes.  He 
had  caused  his  half-brother  to  be  murdered,  and  had 
won  away  the  wife  of  his  father-in-law.  He  had 
caused  many  savage  deeds  to  be  committed.  But  he 
lived  in  a  rude  age,  when  such  crimes  were  thought 
far  more  lightly  of  than  they  are  now.  On  the  other 
hand,  Shane  struggled  valiantly,  and  to  the  bitter  end, 
against  the  subjection  of  Ulster  to  the  foreign  power 
of  England.  When  he  had  a  chance  to  govern  his 
province,  he  governed  it  wisely  and  well,  shane's 
For  these  traits,  he  is  still  remembered  government, 
with  honor  in  Ireland.  On  his  death,  Ulster  lay 
helpless  before  English  power ;  for  there  was  no 
warrior  like  Shane  to  take  his  place.  Turlough 
O'Neil  was,  indeed,  recognized  by  Elizabeth  as  the 
chief  of  his  clan  ;  but  the  chiefs  who  had  followed 
Shane's  fortunes  became  the  vassals  of  the  English 
crown,  and  Turlough's  authority  in  Ulster  was  only 
nominal.  He,  too,  was  really  a  vassal  of  the  haughty 
English  queen. 


126  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

IRELAND    UNDER   ELIZABETH. 

THE  fall  of  Shane  O'Neil  was  followed  by  prompt 
and  energetic  measures  by  Queen  Elizabeth. 
With  her  iron  will,  she  resolved  to  make  Ireland 
Protestant  in  religion,  and  English  in  ownership. 
But  from  the  first,  Protestantism  meant,  in  Irish 
eyes,  not  only  a  religion  hostile  to  that  to  which  they 

Elizabeth's  ^^'^^  always  bccn  wedded,  but  a  mark  of 
treatment  of  English  tyranny  and  ascendancy.  In  spite 
of  the  fact,  therefore,  that  the  offices  of 
Ireland  were  filled  by  Protestants,  and  that  the  way, 
not  only  to  wealth  and  power,  but  even  to  peace  and 
comfort,  was  to  become  a  Protestant,  the  new  faith 
made  no  progress  among  the  natives,  and  very  little 
among  the  old  English  settlers.  Not  only  the  O'Neils 
and  the  O'Donnels,  but  the  Desmonds  and  Kildares, 
adhered  to  the  Roman  creed.  It  was  in  Elizabeth's 
time,  and  by  reason  of  the  acts  of  her  agents,  that 
Protestantism  became  identified  in  the  Irish  mind 
with  the  oppressions  and  miseries  of  the  land ;  and 
that  sentiment  remained  rooted  in  the  Irish  heart 
down  to  recent  times. 


IRELAND    UNDER    ELIZABETH.  12/ 

But  while  Elizabeth  failed  to  convert  the  Irish,  or 
even   to  force   them    to    accept    the    new  faith,  her 
scheme  to  colonize  Ireland  with  English   colonization 
colonies  was    carried    forward  vigorously,   °^  Ireland, 
and  with  some  success.     It    had    already  been  pro- 
posed, in  the  time  of    Henry  the    Eighth,  to  plant 
the  Irish  soil  with  English  settlements  ;  that  is,  to 
oust  the  native  tillers  of  the  land,  and  replace  them 
by  English  farmers.     But  it  was  not  until  the  sup- 
pression of  Shane's  rebellion  that  this  plan  was  at- 
tempted  on    a    large    scale.      The  first    plantations, 
however,    were    doomed    to    failure.     Two    colonies 
were  established  in  Ulster,  on  the  domains  of  the 
O'Neils  ;  but  that  still  fierce  and  unconquered  clan 
fell  upon  the  colonists,  and  killed  them  to   The  Eari 
a  man.     Some  years  later,  however,  Walter  °^  Essex. 
Devereux,  earl  of  Essex,  received  from  the  queen  a 
large  tract  in  Antrim  (1573). 

Devereux  was  a  stern,  cruel,  resolute  man.  His 
district  was  occupied,  to  a  large  extent,  by  a  colony 
of  Scotsmen.  He  undertook  not  only  to  drive  them 
from  the  soil,  but  also  to  get  rid  of  the  native  clans, 
who  thwarted  him  at  every  step.  In  pursuing  these 
ends,  Devereux  resorted  to  murder  and  treachery 
without  remorse.  He  enticed  Con  O'Donnel  to  a 
meeting,  seized  him,  and  cast  him  into  prison.  He 
invited  Brian  O'Neil  to  a  banquet.  Brian  came,  with 
his  wife,  brother,  and  a  large  retinue.  Devereux's 
soldiers  fell  upon  them,  and  slew  them  every  one. 
He  took  Rathlin  Island,  and  massacred,  not  only  the 


128         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

Scottish  garrison,  but  the  old  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren. Not  less  atrocious  were  the  methods  by  which 
The  planting  the  attempt  was  made  to  plant  Muns- 
of  Munster.  ^gj-  Elizabeth  gave  authority  to  twenty- 
seven  Englishmen  to  seize  the  domains  of  Cork, 
Limerick,  and  Kerry.  The  chief  among  these  was 
Sir  Peter  Carew,  a  man  of  brutal  temper,  who  had 
lost  his  fortune,  and  was  eager  to  become  rich  again. 
Carew  had  the  pretence  of  a  claim  to  certain  lands 
in  southern  Ireland  ;  and  these  claims  he  sought  to 
make  good  by  acts  of  the  most  barbarous  cruelty. 
He  desolated  the  districts  over  which  he  passed,  and 
massacred  men,  women,  and  children  without  mercy. 
These  savage  cruelties,  committed  by  the  English 
intruders,  soon  aroused  some  of  the  Anglo-Irish  chiefs 
to  action.  The  Geraldines  put  themselves  at  the  head 
of  a  revolt,  and  an  appeal  for  aid  was  sent  to  the  pope, 
and  to  the  Spanish  king.  The  leader  of  the  revolt 
Revolt  of  was  James  Fitzmaurice  Fitzgerald,  cousin 
Fitzgerald,      ^f  |-]^g  g^j-j  ^f  Dcsmond  j  that  earl  being 

now  a  prisoner  in  London.  Fitzgerald  was  bold, 
fearless,  and  hot-blooded.  But,  in  his  first  attempt 
to  resist  the  English,  his  force  was  too  feeble  to  cope 
with  them.  Sir  Henry  Sidney,  who  was  now  lord- 
deputy  of  Ireland,  was  not  less  cruel  than  Essex  and 
Carew.  He  led  an  army  into  Munster,  which  he 
desolated  by  fire  and  sword.  Towns  and  villages 
were  laid  waste  ;  and  women  and  children,  as  well  as 
men,  were  ruthlessly  put  to  the  sword.  The  earl  of 
Ormond,  the  great   rival   of   the   Geraldines  of  the 


IRELAND    UNDER    ELIZABETH.  1 29 

South,  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  EngHsh  ;  and  Fitzgerald 
was  soon  forced  to  take  refuge  in  the  mountains  of 
Kerry. 

Though  shut  up  for  the  time  in  the  hilly  fastnesses, 
Fitzgerald  was  by  no  means  subdued.  He  soon  be- 
gan to  prepare  the  way  for  another  rebellion.  In 
order  to  strengthen  his  cause,  he  had  re- 
course  to  England's  enemies  on  the  Con-  appeals  to 
tinent.  Foremost  among  these  enemies  *^^  cathouc 
was  Philip,  king  of  Spain ;  Spain  be- 
ing England's  most  formidable  rival  on  the  seas. 
The  pope,  too,  whose  authority  in  England  had  been 
overthrown  by  Henry  the  Eighth,  and  who  had  seen 
the  Catholic  church  replaced  by  a  Protestant  church 
by  Elizabeth,  might  well  be  inclined  to  aid  a  revolt 
against  her  undertaken  by  the  Catholic  Irish.  Fitz- 
gerald went,  first  to  Spain,  and  then  to  Rome.  Philip 
would  not  openly  aid  the  insurgents ;  but  the  pope 
responded  to  Fitzgerald's  appeal,  by  fitting  out  a 
small  fleet  to  go  to  Ireland.  This  fleet,  however, 
was  put  under  the  command  of  an  unscrupulous 
Englishman  named  Stukely ;  who,  instead  of  sailing 
to  Ireland,  used  the  fleet  in  piratical  cruising  in  the 
Mediterranean.  But  Fitzgerald  was  not  dismayed 
by  this  loss.  With  a  few  Spanish  recruits  and  some 
warlike  monks,  he  landed  at  Smerwick,  on  the  west 
coast  of  Ireland,  and  promptly  fortified  that  place. 

A  second  rebellion,  far  more  obstinate  and  for- 
midable than  that  which  had  been  so  quickly  sup- 
pressed by  Sir  Henry  Sidney,  now  broke  out  all  over 


130         YOUNG   PEOPLES    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

Ireland.  The  hideous  cruelties  perpetrated  by  the 
The  second  lord-deputies  Fitton  and  Sidney  ;  the  mas- 
rebeiiion.  sacres,  ravages,  and  burnings  which  had 
marked  the  conduct  of  the  English  *'  planters  ; "  the 
bloodthirsty  vigor  with  which  it  had  been  attempted 
to  exterminate  the  native  Irish  from  their  ancestral 
homes,  had  roused  the  people  of  Ulster,  Munster, 
and  Connaught  to  a  bitter  and  burning  hatred  of 
their  oppressors.  The  treatment  of  the  AngloTrish 
—  the  original  English  settlers  —  had  not  been  a  whit 
less  barbarous.  Even  the  English  of  the  Pale,  who 
had  been  so  long  protected  and  fostered  by  the 
crown,  had  latterly  felt  the  iron  hand  of  tyranny, 
and  were  inclined  to  join  their  fortunes  to  those  of 
the  insurgents.  Bands  of  the  Irish  quickly  gathered 
in  the  great  forest  of  Kilmore,  in  the  county  of 
Limerick,  where  they  were  drilled  by  some  Spanish 
soldiers,   and    where    their    supplies  were 

Spanish  aid. 

collected ;    and    from    thence    Fitzgerald 
sallied  forth  to  kindle  resistance  in  Connaught. 

At  the  very  outset  of  the  rebellion,  however,  the 
insurgents  lost  their  brave  and  energetic  leader. 
Fitzmaurice  was  killed  as  he  attempted  to  pass  the 
river  Muckern.  The  earl  of  Desmond  had  now  been 
released  from  his  imprisonment.  At  first  he  had 
hesitated  whether  to  take  part  in  the  rising.  Two  of 
his  brothers,  Sir  John  and  Sir  James,  had  promptly 
joined  Fitzmaurice's  standard;  and  three  thousand  of 
his  tenants  had  entered  the  rebel  ranks.  The  death 
of   Fitzmaurice   was   followed    by   Desmond's   tardy 


IRELAND    UNDER    ELIZABETH.  I3I 

adhesion  to  the  Irish  cause.  He  took  the  command, 
and  forced  the  EngHsh  general,  Malby,  to  Adhesion  of 
retreat.  He  then  carried  his  sway  over  i^esmond. 
Munster,  took  Youghal,  and  seemed  on  the  high  road 
to  decisive  victory.  EHzabeth,  alarmed  at  Desmond's 
progress,  sent  a  new  deputy,  Sir  William  Pelham,  to 
Ireland.  At  the  same  time,  she  ordered  the  earl  of 
Ormond,  always  Desmond's  rival  and  enemy,  to 
attack  him.  Pelham  led  an  army  from  Dublin,  and 
Ormond  set  out,  at  the  head  of  another,  from  Kil- 
kenny. Joining  their  forces  in  the  west,  the  English 
generals  soon  checked  Desmond,  drove  him  from  his 
stronghold,  overran  Kerry,  and  recovered  all  Mun- 
ster. Desmond  was  forced  to  hide  himself  in  the 
mountains.  The  triumph  of  the  English  army,  as 
■usual,  was  marked  by  terrible  atrocities.  Murder  and 
rapine  everywhere  attended  their  advance.  They 
left  desolation  and  utter  misery  behind  them. 

The  subjection  of  Munster  was  not  at  once  fol- 
lowed by  the  suppression  of  rebellion  in  other  parts 
of  Ireland.  Some  of  the  principal  Englishmen  of 
the  Pale  rose  in  revolt,  and,  leaving  their  homes,  has- 
tened to  join  the  rebels  in  the  interior.  Chief  among 
these  was  lord  Baltinglass,  a  strong  Catholic.  He, 
with  his  comrades,  effected  a  junction  with  Sir  John 
Desmond  and  the  remnant  of  his  force.  A  new  lord- 
deputy,  lord  Grey  of  Wilton,  had  arrived  in  Ireland. 
He  hastened  forth  to  meet  the  troops  Defeat  of 
under  Baltinglass,  but  was  caught  by  the  *^^  English. 
rebels  in  a  narrow  defile,  in  the  valley  of  Glenmalure, 


132         YOUNG   PEOPLES    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

where  his  entire  force  was  exterminated.  Among 
Grey's  lieutenants  was  the  cruel  Sir  Peter  Carew, 
who  thus  met  his  death  at  the  hands  of  the  race  he 
had  so  terribly  oppressed.  Grey  retired  to  Dublin, 
and  once  more  marched  westward  at  the  head  of  a 
fresh  army.  It  is  interesting  that  among  those  who 
followed  Grey  in  this  new  expedition  were  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  the  famous  navigator,  and  Edmund  Spenser, 
the  great  poet  who  wrote  the  "  Faerie  Queene." 

Grey  laid  siege  to  the  garrison  of  Spaniards  and 
Italians  who  were  holding  the  port  of  Smerwick,  on 
the  west  coast,  for  the  rebels,  and  soon  compelled 
them  to  surrender.  Almost  the  entire  garrison  were 
mercilessly  shot.  Grey  returned  in  triumph  to  Dub- 
lin, and  once  more  set  forth  to  deal  a  blow  at  Balt- 
inglass  and  his  comrades  in  the  south.  The  rebels 
were   soon    defeated ;    but   Baltinglass   himself    suc- 

c  ceeded  in  escapin<y  to  France.     The  rebel- 

suppression  i      C5 

of  the  lion  had  now  been  effectually  subdued.     It 

rebellion.        ^^-^^  remained  to  capture  Desmond   and 

his  faithful  friends,  and  to  wreak  vengeance  upon  the 
routed  rebels.  A  large  number,  both  of  Anglo- 
Irish  and  natives,  were  hanged.  One  hundred  and 
fifty  women  and  children  were  put  to  the  sword  at 
Kildimo.  Lady  Fitzgerald  was  hanged  near  her  own 
castle.  Every  day  new  victims  were  given  over  to 
slaughter.  Among  those  captured  and  slain  were  Des- 
mond's two  brothers.  The  head  of  Sir  John  Desmond, 
one  of  the  brothers,  was  sent  to  Dublin,  and  fixed  upon 
a  spike  in  front  of  the  castle,  for  all  men  to  see. 


IRELAND    UNDER    ELIZABETH.  1 33 

Desmond  did  not  escape  the  fate  of  his  kinsmen 
and  of  so  many  of  his  adherents.  For  some  time  he 
salHed  forth  from  the  hills,  at  intervals,  The  fate  of 
and  led  guerilla  expeditions  to  ravage  the  Desmond, 
domains  of  his  enemy,  Ormond.  But  his  forces 
dwindled  from  week  to  week,  and  he  was  constantly 
forced  to  retreat  from  one  valley  to  another.  A  price 
was  put  upon  his  head,  but  the  people  would  not  give 
him  up  to  his  foes.  At  last  he  found  a  temporary 
shelter  in  the  densely  wooded  mountains  in  western 
Kerry.  His  situation  was  desperate  ;  for  he  was  not 
only  in  daily  peril  of  capture,  but  hunger  constantly 
tortured  his  devoted  band.  Early  one  morning,  some 
English  soldiers  discovered  his  retreat,  and  rushed  in 
upon  his  camp.  The  earl  was  seized  and  beheaded 
on  the  spot.  His  head  was  sent  to  England,  and  was 
placed,  by  order  of  Elizabeth,  on  a  high  pole  on  Lon- 
don Bridge.  With  the  death  of  the  earl,  the  second 
Desmond  rebellion  came  to  an  end. 

The  state  of  the  interior  of  Ireland,  and  especially 
of  Munster,  which  had  been  the  principal  scene  of 
the  strusfgle,  was  now  extremely  wretched.   „. 

'-"='  •'  Wretched 

The  rich  lands  had  been  desolated.  Vil-  state  of  the 
lages,  once  thriving  and  busy,  had  disap-  ^"*"'°'"- 
peared,  or  lay  in  ruins.  The  poor  people  wandered 
about  helplessly,  gaunt  with  famine,  or  stricken  by 
disease.  One  Englishman  who  saw  them  wrote, 
that  ''the  people  offer  themselves,  with  their  wives 
and  children,  rather  to  be  slain  by  the  army,  than  to 
suffer  the  famine  that  now  beginneth  to  pinch  them." 


134         YOUNG    PEOPLES    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

The  poet  Spenser  said  that  they  looked  more  Hke 
skeletons  than  human  beings ;  and  that,  in  their 
hunger,  they  not  only  ate  dead  animals,  but  human 
corpses.  Queen  Elizabeth  confiscated  the  estates  of 
the  earl  of  Desmond,  which  comprised  more  than 
half  a  million  of  acres,  and  divided  them  up  among 
Englishmen,  who  undertook  to  settle  English  colonies 
upon  them. 

The  land  in  Limerick,  Kerry,  Cork,  and  other  parts 
of  southern  Ireland,  was  parcelled  out  in  estates  of 
Confisca-  from  four  thousand  to  twelve  thousand 
tionsofiand.  ^cj-es.  Thcsc  cstatcs  wcrc  handed  over 
to  "undertakers"  (as  those  who  agreed  to  plant  colo- 
nies were  called)  ;  and  many  of  the  soldiers  who 
had  taken  part  in  putting  down  the  rebellion  also 
received  tracts  of  land.  A  small  rent  of  two  and 
three  pence  an  acre  was  imposed  upon  these  new  oc- 
cupiers by  the  crown,  after  they  had  been  settled  on 
the  land  six  years.  The  undertakers  were  allowed 
to  send  what  they  raised  on  the  land  into  England, 
free  of  duty.  On  the  other  hand,  they  were  for- 
bidden to  take  native  Irishmen  as  tenants  or  labor- 
ers ;  and  were  compelled  to  get  their  tradesmen  and 
artisans  —  the  bakers,  butchers,  smiths,  carpenters, 
tailors,  and  so  on  —  from  England.  Each  undertaker 
was  bound,  moreover,  to  establish  at  least  eighty-six 
English  families  on  his  estate.  Such,  in  general,  was 
the  plan  by  which  Elizabeth  and  her  ministers  hoped 
to  replace  the  Irish  by  an  English  population,  and  to 
make  of  Ireland  an  English  country. 


THE    REVOLT    OF    TYRONE.  1 35 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

THE    REVOLT    OF    TYRONE. 

THE  Irish  resisted  the  occupation  of  their  land  by- 
English  colonies,  just  as  they  resisted,  for  cen- 
turies, every  step  taken  by  the  English  to  fasten  their 
rule  upon  Ireland.     The  Enirlish  colonists   „    .  , 

'-  '='  Resistance  of 

who  attempted  to  occupy  the  land  found  the  insh  to 

.^      •      ^•  ^        i.1       1  1  1  J  the  colonists. 

their  lives  constantly  harassed  and  endan- 
gered. The  poor  Irish,  who  had  been  expelled  from 
their  homes,  and  now  lived  as  they  could  in  the  bogs 
or  in  the  woods,  formed  secret  leagues  to  attack  the 
new-comers.  The  members  of  these  leagues  called 
themselves  "Robin  Hoods,"  after  the  English  high- 
wayman who  was  so  famous  in  those  days.  The 
undertakers,  moreover,  found  it  impossible  to  com- 
ply with  the  conditions  on  which  they  had  received 
their  lands.  They  could  not  find  Englishmen,  who, 
in  the  face  of  the  dangers  which  threatened  them, 
were  willing  to  become  their  tenants,  and  farm  the 
land.  English  tradesmen  and  artisans  could  not 
be  induced  to  leave  their  safe  homes,  and  establish 
themselves  in  places  where  they  might  be  robbed, 
and  even  killed,  by  the  fierce  Robin  Hoods. 

Thus  it  was   that    Elizabeth's   harsh    scheme   for 


136  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

replacing  the  Irish  by  an  English  population,  to  a 
Failure  of  Certain  extent  failed  of  its  purpose.  The 
Elizabeth's  natives  were  more  obstinate  in  their  resist- 
^^^"'  ance  than  she  had  foreseen.     Even   mas- 

sacre and  the  desolation  of  the  country  had  not 
tamed  their  inveterate  hostility  to  English  intrusion. 
Neither  hunger  nor  nakedness  could  cow  them  into 
submission  to  the  lot  imposed  upon  them.  Many  of 
the  undertakers  gave  up  their  lands  in  sheer  despair. 
Others,  in  spite  of  their  pledges,  accepted  native 
Irishmen  as  tenants.  Yet  rebellion,  at  least  on  a 
large  scale,  had  been  crushed.  Munster  lay  in  help- 
lessness beneath  English  arms.  In  Connaught, 
some  of  the  most  powerful  lords,  such  as  the  earls 
of  Thomond,  the  earl  of  Clanricarde,  and  the  head 
of  the  unruly  family  of  Burke,  had  refused  to  join 
arms  with  Desmond. 

Eor  a  while  Ireland  was  quiet,  if  not  pacified, 
under  the  rule  of  the  lord-deputy  Perrot,  who  had 
succeeded  lord  Grey  of  Wilton  in  that  ofifice  (1584). 
Perrot's  Pcrrot  govcmed,  on  the  whole,  with  ]us- 

government.      ^[^q    q^^^    firmUCSS.         But    OUC    of     hlS    aCtS 

was  long  bitterly  remembered  in  Ireland,  and  this 
memory  later  aided  in  fannmg  the  flames  of  another 
rebellion.  He  suspected  the  chief,  O'Donnel,  of 
secret  hostility  to  the  crown.  In  order  to  obtani 
security  for  O'Donnel's  good  behavior,  Perrot  had  re- 
course to  a  perfidious  stratagem.  He  invited  a  young 
son  of  O'Donnel,  who  was  called  '*  Red  Hugh,"  two 
sons  of  Shane  O'Neil,  and  several  of  their  comrades, 


THE    REVOLT    OF    TYRONE.  1 37 

to  drink  some  Spanish  wine  on  board  a  vessel  which 
lay    off   the    shores    of    Doneo^al.      When   ^^ 

J  ^  The  sons  of 

they  had  become  tipsy  from  the  wine,  shane 
Perrot  ordered  the  youths  to  be  disarmed, 
put  in  irons,  and  thus  conveyed  to  Dublin.  They 
were  thrown  into  Dublin  castle,  where  they  were 
kept  imprisoned  several  years.  This  act  aroused 
the  open  enmity  of  O'Donnel,  and  kindled  fierce 
indignation  throughout  Ulster. 

But  Perrot's  government,  aside  from  this  deed  of 
treachery,  was  so  temperate,  that  it  raised  up  against 
him  a  host  of  enemies  among  the  English.  Every 
occasion  to  bring  charges  against  him  was  eagerly 
seized  by  those  who  wished  to  get  rid  of  him.  At 
last  an  incident  occurred  which  gave  his  enemies 
the  opportunity  they  sought,  by  arousing  against 
him  Elizabeth's  excessive  vanity.  A  native  chief 
named  O'Rourke,  who  was  boastful  of  his  „,„     ,  , 

'  O  Rourke  s 

hostility  to  the  English,  caused  a  rude  msuit  to 
effigy  of  Elizabeth  to  be  made.  He  tied 
this  effigy  to  his  horse's  tail,  and  rode  defiantly  about 
the  country,  dragging  the  effigy  behind  him.  For 
some  reason,  Perrot  made  no  effort  to  punish 
O'Rourke  for  this  audacious  insult  to  the  queen. 
The  insult  was  promptly  reported  to  Elizabeth,  and 
she  angrily  deposed  Perrot.  She  sent  Sir  William 
Pltzwilliam,  a  bad-tempered,  avaricious  man,  to  be 
lord-deputy  in  his  place;  and  Fitzwilliam  soon  un- 
settled the  tranquillity  and  order  which  Perrot  had 
established  in  Ireland. 


138  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

From  the  first,  Fitzwilliam  carried  matters  with  a 
high  hand,  and  used  his  power  with  cruel  caprice. 
His  greed  for  money  prompted  him  to  commit  many 
tyrannical  acts.  He  threw  into  prison  two  Ulster 
„     ^  chiefs,  McTool  and  O'Doherty,  who   had 

Harsh   treat-  '  •' 

ment  of  the    always   bccn  faithful   to   the  crown,  on  a 
*^^^'  false    charge    of    having    concealed    some 

treasure  which  he  was  eager  to  get  into  his  clutches. 
On  an  equally  false  accusation  of  having  used  force 
to  collect  rents,  contrary  to  law,  Fitzwilliam  caused 
Hugh  McMahon  to  be  seized,  tried  by  court-martial, 
and  executed,  and  gave  McMahon's  lands  to  English- 
men. The  arbitrary  acts  of  Fitzwilliam's  agents  in 
Ulster  created  wide-spread  discontent.  The  cattle 
were  stolen,  money  was  extorted  from  the  chiefs 
without  warrant  of  law,  and  even  women  and  children 
were  slaughtered  by  the  ruffians  sent  to  carry  out 
the  lord-deputy's  orders.  When,  after  governing 
Ireland  for  six  years,  the  avaricious  Fitzwilliam  was 
at  last  recalled,  he  left  the  country  in  a  state  of  pro- 
found unrest.      Red    Hugh    had    escaped 

Red  Hugh.        .  -r^     ,  ,  ,         ,       i  i  1 

from  Dublm  castle,  had  returned  to  his 
own  country,  and  assumed  the  lordship  of  Tyr- 
connel.  He  and  his  clans  were  ripe  for  revolt.  In 
Connaught  and  in  Ulster,  the  people  only  awaited  a 
signal  to  rise  once  more  against  their  oppressors. 

There  now  appeared,  as  the  leader  of  the  Irish 
patriots,  one  of  the  most  heroic  and  famous  figures 
in  Irish  history.  This  was  Hugh  O'Neil,  earl  of 
Tyrone.      A  descendant  of   the  redoubtable    family 


THE    REVOLT    OF    TYRONE.  1 39 

which  had  so  long  given  warrior-kings  to  Ulster  and 
to  all  Ireland,  once  more  arose  to  defy  the  power  of 
the  Enghsh  crown.  Hugh  O'Neil  was  Hugh 
the  son  of  that  Matthew  whom  his  half-  O'Neii. 
brother,  Shane  O'Neil,  had  caused  to  be  killed.  But 
in  course  of  time  Hugh  had  succeeded  to  the  title 
and  estates  of  Tyrone.  In  many  respects  he  pre- 
sented a  striking  contrast  to  other  Irish  chiefs.  He 
had  been  carefully  educated  in  England.  He  was 
an  accomplished  scholar,  a  polished  courtier,  an  expe- 
rienced soldier,  a  graceful  and  fine-mannered  gentle- 
man. From  his  youth  up,  Hugh  O'Neil  had  given 
his  allegiance  to  the  English  crown,  and  had  even 
fous^ht  on  the  English  side  in  Shane's  rebellion.  He 
was  personally  liked  by  Elizabeth,  who  had  conferred 
many  favors  upon  him. 

Such  was  the  man,  so  different  in  many  respects 
from  the  still  rude  and  untamed  chiefs  of  the  Irish 
clans,  who  now  came  forward  to  champion  the  cause 
of  his  oppressed  fellow  countrymen.  Hugh  was  the 
son-in-law  of  the  chief  O'Donnel,  whose  son,  Red 
Hugh,  had  been  so  treacherously  dealt  with  by  the 
lord-deputy  Perrot.  O'Neil  had  been  angered  by 
this  treatment  of  his  young  brother-in-law,  and  he 
had  felt  a  deep  resentment  at  the  cruelties  and 
exactions  of  the  English  agents  in  Ulster.  He 
gradually  cooled  in  his  loyalty  to  the  ^.^  .j  ^ 
crown,  but  at  first  he  did  not  openly  comes  hostile 
declare  against  it.  A  romantic  incident,  *°*  e  crown, 
however,  finally  completed  the  breach  between  O'Neil 


140  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

and  the  English.  His  wife  had  died  ;  and  he  had 
fallen  deeply  in  love  with  the  sister  of  Sir  Henry 
Bagnal,  the  commander  of  the  English  forces  in 
Ireland.  The  young  lady  had  rare  beauty  and  many 
attractive  graces.  She  ardently  responded  to  Hugh 
O' Neil's  affection.  But  Sir  Henry  Bagnal  violently 
opposed  the  match.  O'Neil  thereupon  eloped  with 
his  lady-love,  and  married  her. 

Bagnal  at  once  conceived  a  deadly  hatred  of 
O'Neil.  He  tried  by  every  means  to  convict  him  of 
treasonable  acts,  and  intercepted  the  letters  in  which 
O'Neil  defended  himself  from  the  charges  made 
against  him.  O'Neil  repaired  to  London,  and  easily 
made  his  peace  with  Elizabeth.  But  no  sooner  had 
he  returned  to  Ireland,  than  he  found  that  the 
flames  of  revolt  had  already  burst  forth.  Young 
Red  Hugh  and  the  sons  of  Shane  O'Neil  had  risen 
in  arms  ;  and  O'Donnel,  the  father  of  Hugh's  first 
wife,  exasperated  by  his  wrongs,  had  mflicted  more 
than  one  desperate  blow  on  the  English  forces  in 
Ulster.  Hugh  O'Neil  joined  with  O'Donnel,  and 
The  league  promptly  sct  about  forming  a  great  league 
of  the  chiefs.  Qf  Irish  chicfs  against  the  English.  The 
O'Rourkes,  the  McMahons,  the  Scots,  the  O'Connors, 
the  O'Kellys,  the  McDermots,  and  the  O'Byrnes 
joined  the  standard  of  the  two  great  Ulster  chiefs. 
The  league  appealed  to  the  Catholics  to  stand  by 
their  faith  against  their  Protestant  tyrants.  It  sent 
emissaries  to  Spain  to  apply  once  more  for  aid,  and 
it  made  ready  to  meet  the  formidable  battalions  of 
England  in  the  field  (1595.) 


THE  REVOLT  OF  TYRONE.  I4I 

The  first  campaign  of  Tyrone's  league  was  at- 
tended with  such  signal  success,  that  Elizabeth  be- 
came alarmed,  and  tried  to  make  peace  with  him. 
Tyrone  pretended  to  come  to  terms  ;  but  Revolt  of 
his  real  object  was  to  gain  time,  until  the  Tyrone, 
help  which  had  been  promised  him  by  the  Spanish 
king,  Philip,  should  arrive.  As  soon  as  three  Span- 
ish frigates  appeared  off  the  coast  of  Donegal,  Tyrone 
resumed  his  military  operations.  The  new  lord- 
deputy,  Lord  Burgh,  was  forced  to  retreat  ;  and,  a 
little  later,  Tyrone's  father-in-law  and  bitter  enemy, 
Bagnal,  was  utterly  defeated,  and  himself  slain,  in  a 
desperate  battle  on  the  banks  of  the  Callan.  Several 
forts  held  by  the  English  surrendered  to  the  Irish 
insurgents,  and  Tyrone  now  found  himself  the  mas- 
ter of  nearly  the  whole  of  Ulster.  Meanwhile  the 
fortunes  of  war  leaned  to  the  side  of  the  Irish  in 
other  parts  of  the  island.  Connaught,  Munster,  and 
even  Leinster,  the  province  in  which  the  Pale  was 
situated,  were  afire  with  revolt. 

Tyrrel,  one  of  Tyrone's  bravest  lieutenants,  drove 
Sir  Thomas  Norris,  governor  of  Munster,  into  Cork. 
The  castles  of  the  earl  of  Desmond  were  successes  of 
seized  by  the  Irish  ;  and  a  cousin  of  the  *^®  ^"^^• 
earl,  who  was  on  Tyrone's  side,  took  his  title,  and 
was  called,  in  derision,  the  "  earl  of  Straw."  In  no 
long  time  the  whole  of  Ireland,  outside  the  small 
district  of  the  Pale,  had  come  under  the  sway  of 
Tyrone  and  his  brave  comrades.  The  Irish  had 
fought,  not   only  with  valor,  but  with   steadfastness 


142  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

and  discipline.  They  had  been  well  handled  by  sol- 
diers who  had  seen  something  of  war  on  a  larger 
scale.  They  had  had  an  abundance  of  food  and 
ammunition.  Many  of  the  English  troops,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  raw  recruits  ;  and  operating,  as 
they  did,  in  a  country  unfamiliar  and  profoundly  hos- 
tile to  them,  they  met  their  enemy  everywhere  at 
a  disadvantage.  Ireland  seemed,  at  this  moment 
(1598),  entirely  lost  to  England.  The  Irish,  indeed, 
had  all  but  won  their  independence. 

But  the  proud  spirit  of  Elizabeth,  although  she 
was  now  aged  and  physically  feeble,  was  aroused  to 
its  old  energy  by  the  overwhelming  disasters  to  her 
arms  in  Ireland.  Her  favorite  at  this  time  was  a 
brave,  handsome,  chivalrous  courtier,  Robert  Deve- 
reux,  earl  of  Essex.  He  had  just  performed  the 
brilliant  feat  of  attacking  and  burning  a  Spanish 
fleet  in  the  harbor  of  Cadiz.  Elizabeth  appointed 
Essex  in  Esscx  lord-lieutcnant  of  Ireland,  and  in- 
ireiand.  trustcd  to  him  a  fresh  army  of  twenty-one 

thousand  men,  with  which  to  put  down  Tyrone's  re- 
volt. Essex  relieved  some  of  the  Ulster  garrisons, 
and  then  marched  southward  into  Munster.  But  his 
campaign  had  no  marked  result.  The  Irish  troops 
prudently  refused  to  meet  so  strong  a  force  in  the 
open  field,  but  continually  picked  off  the  English  as 
The  English  they  marchcd  to  and  fro.  Essex  returned 
harassed.  .j-q  DubUn,  with  his  troops  greatly  reduced 
in  numbers  and  dampened  in  spirits.  Meanwhile  his 
lieutenant,  Sir  Conyers  Clifford,  had  been  cut  off 
with  half  his  force  by  O'Donnel  in  Connaught. 


Meeting  of  Tyrone  and  Essex,  on  the  banks  of  the  I.a[;an.  —  Page  143. 


THE  REVOLT  OF  TYRONE.  143 

Elizabeth  was  enraged  by  Essex's  want  of  success. 
She  sent  him,  however,  two  thousand  fresh  troops ; 
and  he  promptly  marched  on  Ulster.  A  mysterious 
event,  which  has  never  since  been  fully  explained, 
now  took  place.  Tyrone,  seeing  that  he  was  hard 
pushed,  begged  for  an  interview  with  Essex.  The 
lord-lieutenant  granted  the  request.  The  great 
Ulster  chief  and  the  gallant  English  courtier  met  on 
the  banks  of  the  Lagan.  What  passed  between 
them  is  not  known ;  but  the  result  of  their 

Armistice 

meeting   was,    that    Essex   agreed    to    an  between 
armistice  of  six  weeks.     When  the  news  ^^^^"^  ^""^ 

Tyrone. 

of  this  concession  by  Essex  reached  Eng- 
land, it  produced  universal  indignation.  The  queen 
shared  in  the  anger  of  her  subjects.  Essex  was 
loudly  accused  of  treachery.  He  was  abruptly  re- 
called to  London,  There,  soon  after,  he  actually  en- 
gaged in  a  conspiracy  against  the  queen,  was  seized 
and  thrown  into  the  Tower,  and,  after  a  brief  trial, 
was  beheaded. 


144  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

THE  PLANTATION  OF  IRELAND. 

THE  task  of  recovering  Ireland  from  the  grasp  of 
the  brave  Tyrone  was  now  resumed  with  more 
vigor  than  ever.  Essex's  successor  in  the  govern- 
ment of  Ireland  was  a  stern,  energetic  nobleman, 
Lord  Mount] oy.  The  first  act  of  this  new  ruler  was 
to  re-organize  the  shattered  and  demoralized  English 
Mountjoy's  troops.  He  restored  rigid  discipline  to 
tyranny.  j^jg  amiy,  and  inflicted  the  severest  punish- 
ments on  those  soldiers  who  in  the  least  deviated 
from  their  duties.  As  a  military  chief,  Mount] oy 
was  wary  and  heartless.  He  refused  to  be  drawn 
into  bogs  and  forests,  where  the  Irish  clans  could  pick 
off  his  men.  His  plan  of  conquest  was  simply  to  lay 
waste  the  country.  Wherever  he  went,  he  destroyed 
crops  and  villages,  and  thus  made  a  desert.  In  this 
way  he  reduced  the  greater  part  of  Munster  and  Con 
naught  to  submission.  Tyrone  himself  was  about  to 
_.    e      •  V  despair,  when  the  news  reached  him  that  a 

The  Spanish  ^        ' 

fleet  at  Spanish  fleet  of  fifty  vessels,  under  Don 

Juan  d'Aquila,  had  reached  Kinsale,     The 

Irish    chief    promptly    marched    towards    that    place 


THE  PLANTATION  OF  IRELAND.         I45 

with  five  thousand   men,  to  effect  a  junction  with 
his  allies. 

The  English  under  Carew  promptly  laid  siege, 
both  by  land  and  sea,  to  the  Spaniards  in  Kinsale. 
Tyrone,  having  joined  O'Donnel,  came  up,  and  took 
up  a  position  which  threatened  the  besieging  forces. 
But  now  treachery  wrought  the  ruin  of  the  Irish 
patriots.  Tyrone  resolved  to  take  the  English  by 
surprise,  and  to  attack  them  before  they  knew  his 
intention.  But  a  traitor  from  his  camp  carried  the 
intelligence  to  Carew.  When  Tyrone  made  his  as- 
sault, he  found  the  English  ready  to  receive  him. 
After  a  desperate  fight,  he  was  forced  to  retreat  in 
confusion.  He  could  no  longer  stand  up  against 
such  a  disaster,  and  in  the  face  of  an  Paii  of 
enemy  so  superior  in  numbers  and  disci-  ^^"saie. 
pline.  At  last  the  brave  Tyrone  was  forced  to  sub- 
mit to  Mount  joy,  while  O'Donnel  sought  safety  in 
flight  across  seas.  The  English  avenged  the  rebel- 
lion by  the  most  ruthless  cruelties.  The  country 
was  desolated.  Human  beings,  cattle,  crops,  were 
exterminated. 

Just  after  Tyrone  had  given  in  his  submission,  the 
news  reached  Ireland,  that  the  iron-souled  English 
queen,  Elizabeth,  was  dead  (1603).  The  Irish  were 
at  first  rejoiced  to  hear  this  ;  for  they  had  heard  that 
James  the  First,  Elizabeth's  successor,  was  favorable 
to  the  Catholics,  and  they  hoped  that  he  would  defend 
them  in  the  practice  of  their  faith.  But  they  were 
destined  to  be  rudely  undeceived.     James  very  soon 


146         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

showed  that  he  was  resolved,  not  only  to  suppress 
the  creed  of  the  native  Irish,  but  to  force  Protes- 
tantism upon  them  by  every  means  in  his  power. 
Not  only  the  native  Irish,  but  the  Anglo-Irish  of  the 
Pale  (the  descendants  of  the  original  English  set- 
tlers), were  Catholics.  The  decrees  of  the 
ism  forced"  ^i^w  EugHsh  king  bore  with  equal  severity 
upon  the  on  both.  Sir  Arthur  Chichester,  whom 
James  sent  to  Ireland  as  lord-deputy,  com- 
manded the  chief  citizens  of  Dubhn  to  attend  the 
Protestant  church  ;  and,  when  they  refused,  he  threw 
them  all  into  Dublin  castle.  A  fine  was  inflicted  on 
all  persons  who  did  not  go  to  the  Protestant  church 
every  Sunday.  A  person  in  Ireland  who  did  not 
take  the  oath  of  supremacy,  which  acknowledged  the 
kino^  as  the  sole  head  of  the  church,  could  not  hold 
either  a  military  or  a  civil  office.  He  could  not  be 
a  magistrate,  a  judge,  a  lawyer,  or  an  army  officer. 

The  reign  of   James   was  marked  by  a  vigorous 

renewal  of   the  attempts  which  had  been  made  by 

Elizabeth,    to    colonize    all    Ireland   with 

Reign  of 

James  the  Englishmen.  The  success  of  this  scheme, 
^"^^'  though  by  no  means  complete,  was  much 

greater  under  James  than  it  had  been  under  Eliza- 
beth. James  first  directed  his  attention  to  Ulster. 
Tyrone  and  other  Ulster  chiefs  had  submitted  to  the 
crown.  But  it  was  necessary  to  deprive  them  of 
their  local  power,  and,  indeed,  if  possible,  to  get  rid 
of  them  altogether.  A  false  charge  was  made  against 
Tyrone  and  O'Donnel's  son  Rory  of  having  formed 


THE    PLANTATION    OF    IRELAND.  I47 

a  plot  to  kill  the  lord-deputy,  and  seize  Dublin  cas- 
tle. Tyrone  was  warned  that  it  was  intended  to 
arrest  him  on  this  charge.  He  therefore  fled,  with 
young  O'Donnel,  to  the  Continent.  He  repaired  to 
Rome,  where,  shattered  and  blind,  he  died  Flight  of 
a  few  years  after.  Soon  after  Tyrone's  Tyrone, 
flight,  a  feeble  revolt  broke  out  in  Ulster,  which  was 
speedily  suppressed,  its  leaders  becoming  outcasts. 
Thus,  one  by  one,  the  greater  Ulster  chiefs  were 
disappearing. 

The  "treason  "  of  the  Ulster  chiefs  afforded  James 
the  opportunity,  which  he  eagerly  seized,  to  declare 
their  domains  forfeited  to  the  crown ;  and  thus  a  way 
was  opened  for  putting  into  practice  a  scheme  for 
planting  the  whole  of  the  northern  province  with 
Engflish  and  Scottish  settlers.  No  less  than  six 
counties  were  confiscated  by  the  king,  to  be  divided 
up  and  delivered  over  to  new  holders,  who  would 
be  Protestant  and  loyal.  The  king's  agents  went 
promptly  to  work  to  carry  the  new  plantation  into 
effect.  The  land  of  the  six  counties  was  carefully 
surveyed.  In  all,  it  was  found  that  between  three 
and  four  millions  of  acres  of  Irish  land  had  come 
into  the  hands  of  the  crown,  by  the  con-  Land  con- 
fiscation of  James.  This  land  was  par-  fiscations. 
celled  out  into  farms  of  between  one  and  two  thousand 
acres,  and  was  given  over  mainly  to  English  and  Scot- 
tish undertakers,  on  condition  that  they  should  pay 
for  it  an  annual  rent  of  from  one  to  two  and  a  quarter 
pence    per  acre.     Some    of   the  land,  however,  was 


148         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

retained  for  the  purpose  of  supporting  the  Protestant 
bishops,  churches,  and  clergy,  for  towns  and  forts, 
and  for  estabHshing  free  schools. 

The  undertakers  to  whom  the  farms  were  given, 
and   the  settlers  upon   the   domain,  were  bound  by 
certain  other  conditions  besides  that  of  the  payment 
of  rent.     They  were  required  to  build  castles  as  resi- 
dences ;    to    divide    their   land    into   four 

Conditions         ,  i      •  n  r  1 

imposed  larger,  and  six  smaller,  larms,  and  to  sup- 
upon  the        port  eight  skilled  laborers  and  their  fami- 

colonists.  ,      •        1         1        r  1 

lies  ;  to  let  their  lands  tor  no  shorter 
period  than  twenty-one  years  ;  to  have  the  houses 
built  in  groups,  or  villages,  in  order  that  the  settle- 
ments might  the  better  defend  themselves  ;  to  take 
the  oath  of  supremacy ;  and  not  to  receive  the  native 
Irish  as  tenants  upon  their  estates.  In  addition  to 
the  undertakers,  several  of  the  great  London  guilds, 
or  trade  associations,  took  large  tracts  of  land  in 
Ireland,  and  let  it  out  in  the  same  way  that  the 
undertakers  did.  The  land  in  Ulster  was  of  two 
kinds,  —  that  which  was  fertile,  and  that  which  was 
useless  for  farming  or  grazing.  The  good  land  was 
called  "fat  land,"  and  the  bad,  'Mean  land."  Four- 
fifths  of  the  land  confiscated  by  James  was  lean  : 
only  about  a  half  a  million  acres  were  fat,  or  fertile. 
Of  course  it  was  the  fat  land  which  the  undertakers 
seized,  and  upon  which  the  new  English  and  Scottish 
settlements  were  made. 

All  that  was  left  for  the  poor  native  Irish  was  the 
lean  land,  which  comprised  bogs,  barren  moors,  and 


THE    PLANTATION    OF    IRELAND.  I49 

dense  forests.  Thus  great  numbers  of  them  became 
vagrants,  beggars,  and  outlaws.  They  ^^^  ^^^^ 
retired  from  the  rich  farms  where  their  state  of  the 
ancestors  had  dwelt  and  labored  for  centu-  "^*'^^^' 
ries,  and  saw  themselves  replaced  by  foreign  intrud- 
ers, who  were  protected  by  all  the  power  of  the 
English  crown.  Under  that  protection,  the  colonists 
began  to  thrive.  Many  Englishmen  and  Scotsmen, 
attracted  by  the  fertile  domains  and  the  low  rents, 
repaired  to  Ulster,  rented  farms  of  the  undertakers, 
and  permanently  settled  down.  Castles  and  com- 
fortable mansions  dotted  the  country.  Towns,  vil- 
lages, mills,  schools,  bridges,  and  forts  appeared  in 
once  lonely  and  secluded  spots.  An  air  of  thrift  and 
prosperity  began  to  pervade  the  province.  Yet  the 
scheme  was  by  no  means  fully  successful.  The  want 
of  laborers  on  the  farms,  and  the  lack  of  enough 
English  and  Scottish  tenants  to  rent  them,  compelled 
the  undertakers  here  and  there  to  violate  the  condi- 
tion which  forbade  their  receiving  the  native  Irish. 
Many  of  the  English  and  Scottish  tenants,  after 
remaining  a  while  upon  the  land,  returned  to  their 
homes  across  the  channel.  When  they  Decrease  of 
did  so,  they  sold  out  the  remainder  of  the  colonists, 
their  leases,  and  the  improvements  they  had  made 
on  the  land,  to  natives.  Thus  arose  the  custom  of 
"  tenant  right,"  which  has  continued  in  Ulster  to  our 
own  day. 

Having,  as  far  as  he  could,  carried  out  his  plan 
of   planting   Ulster,   James    turned  his  attention  to 


150  YOUNG    PEOPLES    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

the  two  provinces  of  Leinster  and  Connaught.  By 
all  sorts  of  legal  subterfuge  and  trickery,  the  titles 
to  many  of  the  Leinster  estates  were  declared  defec- 
tive;  and  these  estates,  like  those  of  the  Ulster 
^    ^  chiefs,    were    confiscated    by    the    crown. 

Connsca-  "^ 

tions  in  In    this    wholesale    seizure   of    land,    the 

einster.  Auglo-Irish  suffcrcd  in  common  with  the 
native  chiefs.  Nearly  half  a  million  acres  in  Leinster 
were  thus  taken  from  their  possessors,  given  over 
to  English  undertakers,  and  granted  for  the  use  of  the 
church  and  schools.  Only  a  small  proportion  was 
returned  to  those  who  were  called  "  the  more  deserv- 
ing "  of  the  recent  holders  of  the  land.  Those  who 
were  dispossessed  in  favor  of  the  new-comers  became, 
like  their  fellow-countrymen  of  Ulster,  wanderers 
and  outlaws  in  wild  places.  And  now,  for  the  first 
time,  we  hear  of  "agrarian  outrages"  being  com- 
mitted in  Ireland.  The  expelled  proprietors  and 
their  adherents  retorted  upon  the  intruders  by  assas- 
sination, the  maiming  of  cattle,  and  the  destruction 
of  crops. 

The  English  avenged  these  agrarian  outrages  by 
killing  off  the  vagrant  Irish  wherever  they  could  lay 
Massacres  of  their  hauds  on  them.  The  lord-deputy 
the  Irish.  5|-  Jq^j^  declared  that  he  had  killed  three 
hundred  of  the  recent  land-owners  in  as  many  years. 
"But,"  he  said,  "as  soon  as  one  sort  is  cut  off,  others 
rise  in  their  places  ;  for  the  country  is  so  full  of  the 
younger  sons  of  gentlemen,  who  have  no  means  of 
living,  and  will  not  work,  that,  when  they  are  sought 


THE    PLANTATION    OF    IRELAND.  I5I 

to  be  punished  for  disorders  they  commit  in  their 
idleness,  they  go  to  the  woods,  to  maintain  them- 
selves by  the  spoil  of  their  quiet  neighbors."  Thus 
Leinster,  as  well  as  Ulster,  was  planted  with  some 
degree  of  success ;  and  the  result  was  to  add  a  con- 
siderable sum  to  James's  treasury  from  the  rents, 
fines,  and  the  increased  customs  duties,  arising  from 
the  better  industrial  condition  of  the  country.  It 
remained  to  plant  Connaught.  But  the  landed  pro- 
prietors of  Connaught  found  a  way  of  averting  the 
doom  of  their  fellow-countrymen  of  the  other  three 
provinces.  They  knew  that  what  James  most  wanted 
was  money.  So  they  offered  him  a  large  sum  for 
new  titles  to  their  land,  provided  he  would  not  pur- 
sue his  scheme  of  planting  Connaught.  While  James 
was  hesitating  whether  to  accept  it,  he  died  (1625) ; 
and  Connaught  was  saved,  at  least  for  a  time,  from  a 
large  settlement  of  English  upon  the  land. 

We  must  now  go  back  a  little,  and  see  how  James 
sought  to  give  legal  sanction  to  his  harsh  proceed- 
ings in  Ireland.     This   could  only  be  done  through 
the  Irish  Parliament.     For  a  long  time,  James  hesi- 
tated about  calling  that  Parliament  together.     It  was 
necessary,  in  order  that  his  acts  should  be 
approved,  that  Parliament  should  comprise   Parliament 
a   majority  of    Protestants.     But    a  great   ^""^"^°"^ 
majority  of  those  who  were  entitled  to  vote  for  mem- 
bers in  Ireland  were  Roman  Catholics.     James  set 
his  agents  to  work  to  so  arrange  the  voting-districts 
as  to  secure  the  election  of  a  majority  devoted  to  the 


152         YOUNG    PEOPLES    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

king.  This  was  done  by  converting  mere  villages  in 
many  of  the  Protestant  districts,  into  boroughs  en- 
titled to  return  members.  The  king's  agents  also 
used  every  kind  of  threat  and  pressure  to  compel  the 
people  to  vote  as  they  wished.  After  a  very  bitter 
contest,  the  new  Parliament  was  chosen,  and  was 
found  to  contain  a  small  majority  of  Protestant 
members. 

After  a  noisy  struggle  over  the  speakership,  Parlia- 
ment went  to  work  to  carry  out  the  king's  wishes. 
It  forbade  the  Catholics  to  worship  according  to  their 
faith.  It  required  that  every  Catholic  priest  should 
Repressive  Icavc  Ireland  within  forty  days,  under 
laws.  heavy  penalties.     It   declared  that  a  per- 

son who  sheltered  a  priest  should  be  fined  forty 
pounds  ;  that,  if  he  did  so  a  second  time,  he  should 
be  imprisoned  ;  and  that,  for  the  third  offence  of  this 
kind,  he  should  suffer  death.  It  passed  an  act,  "  at- 
tainting" of  high  treason  O'Neil,  O'Donnel,  and 
many  other  Ulster  chiefs  ;  and  confirmed  the  confis- 
cations of  their  lands  to  the  crown.  It  put  all  the 
native  Irish  under  the  protection  and  obligations  of 
the  English  law.  Hitherto,  by  that  law,  they  had 
been  simply  outlaws.  It  also  abolished  all  the  old 
laws  which  had  forbidden  marriage  and  other  social 
relations  between  the  English  and  the  Irish  races. 
At  the  end  of  James's  reign,  therefore,  it  may  be 
said  that  the  whole  of  Ireland  was  under  the  physical 
control  of  the  English  sceptre. 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  1 53 


CHAPTER    XX. 

CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE. 

IN  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Ire- 
land was  occupied  by  three  different  classes  of 
men.  There  were  the  native  Irish,  who,  Theidsh 
as  we  have  seen,  had  in  many  instances,  classes, 
and  in  large  numbers,  been  ousted  from  the  land  of 
which  they  and  their  ancestors  had  been  the  owners, 
or  which  they  had  tilled  as  peasants  or  as  laborers, 
for  centuries.  There  were  the  AngloTrish,  the 
descendants  of  the  original  Norman  or  English 
settlers,  who  dwelt  in  the  Pale,  who  had  acquired,  in 
various  ways,  large  estates  in  the  country,  and  who 
were  represented  by  such  great  nobles  as  the  earls 
of  Kildare,  Desmond,  Ormond,  and  Clanricarde. 
Lastly,  there  were  the  new  English  and  Scottish 
settlers,  —  the  men  who  had  come  as  undertakers 
and  colonists  to  plant  the  confiscated  lands,  and 
who  had  established  large  English  colonies  The 
in  Munster,  Ulster,  and  Leinster.  Of  "i°"ists. 
these  classes,  the  native  Irish  almost  to  a  man, 
and  a  very  large  majority  of  the  Anglo-Irish,  ad- 
hered   firmly   to    the    Roman  Catholic    faith  ;    while 


154         YOUNG    PEOPLES    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

nearly  all  of  the  new  English  and  Scottish  settlers 
were  equally  devoted  to  the  Protestant  creed. 

The  native  Irish,  as  a  people,  were  not  subdued, 
excepting  outwardly  and  jDhysically,  to  English  rule. 
The  native  They  ncvcr  had  accepted  that  rule  in  their 
Irish.  hearts,  and  they  have  never  so  accepted 

it  since.  The  wrongs  they  had  endured  by  the  origi- 
nal English  intruders  had  been  continued  and  ex- 
ceeded by  later  English  sovereigns.  The  native 
Irish  had  to  a  great  degree  absorbed  the  Anglo-Irish, 
who  had  become  Irish  in  custom,  by  marriage  and 
descent,  by  harmony  of  interests,  and  in  sympathy 
and  love  of  country.  But,  when  this  had  happened, 
other  colonies  of  new  English  were  thrust  upon  them 
by  force  of  arms  and  gross  tyranny ;  and  the  later 
tyrants  now  held  Ireland  in  their  grasp.  In  the 
course  of  the  long,  almost  ceaseless  conflicts,  the 
repeated  rebellions,  and  the  succeeding  devastations 
^^    ,  by  the  Eno;lish  conquerors,  it  is  no  wonder 

The  desper-         -^  °  . 

ate  state  of  that  the  outcast  and  poverty-stricken  na- 
the  natives,     ^jygg  sank  into  3.  scmi-savagc  state.     Great 

numbers  of  them  dwelt  in  the  forests,  or  in  the  vast 
boggy  districts  of  the  interior.  Comparatively  few 
served  the  new  settlers  as  laborers  and  menials,  or, 
in  rare  instances,  held  small  patches  of  ground  as 
tenants. 

The  most  profitable  property  held  by  the  Irish  and 
Anglo-Irish  was  cattle,  and  their  chief  industry  was 
cattle-raising.  The  old  tribal  custom  of  holding  land 
in  common  still  survived  here  and  there  in   Ireland  ; 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  1 55 

and  the  pastures  held  by  the  tribes  were  used  for  rear- 
ing the  herds  of  cows  and  the  flocks  of  sheep.  The 
forests  were  used  for  the  keeping  of  hogs.  In  some 
parts  of  the  country,  too,  large  quantities  ^^^ 
of  oats  and  barley  were  grown,  not  only  for  resources  of 
food,  but  also  for  the  making  of  a  strong 
drink  commonly  partaken  of  in  those  days,  called 
"usquebaugh."  Grain  was  likewise  exported,  to 
some  extent,  from  Ireland  to  England.  The  land 
was  ploughed  by  six  horses  driven  abreast,  the  ploughs 
being  tied  to  the  horses'  tails.  One  great  source  of 
profit,  sea  and  fresh-water  fishing,  which  has  since 
become  a  lucrative  industry  in  Ireland,  was  pursued 
little,  if  at  all,  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  Irish 
had  very  little  ready  money.  Almost  all  of  their 
trading  was  done  by  exchanging  one  product  or  arti- 
cle for  another,  and  they  usually  paid  their  fines  and 
taxes  with  cattle  or  sheep. 

The  chiefs,  both  native  and  Anglo-Irish,  lived  in  a 
sort  of  rude,  barbaric  state.  They  had  large  castles, 
built  of  rough-hewn  stone,  supplied  with  customs  of 
moats  and  draw-bridges  and  high  donjon  ^^^  chiefs, 
towers.  These  castles  stood  on  islands,  or  promon- 
tories, or  on  the  crests  of  high  hills.  Some  of 
them  even  had  the  luxury  of  leaden  roofs.  In  these 
mansions  the  chiefs  exercised  a  primitive,  but  cer- 
tainly bountiful  and  hilarious,  hospitality.  They  had 
their  retainers,  who  sometimes  dwelt  in  huts  within 
the  castle-walls;  but  more  often  just  outside,  their 
huts  clustered  in  a  valley,  or  on  the  shores  of  a  lake 


156         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

or  river.  The  ancient  Irish  dress  was  still  retained 
by  many  of  the  chiefs.  It  consisted  usually  of  a 
The  ancient  saffrou-colored  shirt,  over  which  a  tunic 
Irish  dress,  with  widc-flowing  sleeves,  and  sometimes 
a  fur  cloak,  was  worn. 

The  Irish  farmers  and  tenants,  and  the  Anglo- 
Irish  of  the  same  rank,  lived  in  a  far  humbler  and 
ruder  fashion  than  the  chiefs.  A  few,  perhaps,  were 
sufficiently  well-to-do  to  enjoy  the  comfort  of  clay 
cottages,  with  roofs  made  of  rafters,  wherein  they 
dwelt,  sheltered,  at  least,  from  the  frequent  rains. 
But  a  large  majority  of  the  farmers  lived  in  little 
hamlets  of  small  cabins,  built  on  islands,  in  order 
that  they  might  be  protected  from  the  assaults  of 
enemies.  A  hole  in  the  roof  sufficed  for  a  chimney. 
The  cabin  had  no  other  furniture  than  heaps  of 
straw  laid  about  in  the  corners  on  the  unpaved 
ground.  Their  garments  were  of  wool  or  flax,  spun 
by  their  wives  and  daughters  ;  and  their  ordinary 
food  was  oaten  or  barley  cakes,  cheese,  milk,  and 
butter.  Only  the  wealthier  farmers  could  afford  an 
occasional  chicken,  rabbit,  or  piece  of  beef.  At  their 
meals,  they  sat  upon  the  ground  in  their  cabins, 
around  the  fire  built  in  the  centre,  which  had  been 
built  to  cook  the  food.  They  ate  with  their  fingers  ; 
and,  with  the  free  use  of  usquebaugh,  their  meal  was 
soon  concluded. 

As  for  the  lowest  class  of  the  Irish, — those  who 
had  almost  no  property,  and  almost  no  occupation, — 
their  state  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  1 5/ 

tury  was  wretched  beyond  conception.  They  were 
half-starved.  Often  they  were  found  wan-  The  lowest 
dering  about  absolutely  naked,  with  no  ^^^^^• 
shelter  except  the  trees  of  the  forest.  Sometimes 
they  lived  in  miserable  hovels,  sleeping  side  by  side 
with  the  sheep  and  pigs,  and  barely  living  on  milk 
and  curds  and  diseased  meat.  These  poor  creatures, 
expelled  with  the  rest  from  the  fat  lands,  died  by 
thousands  in  the  remote  and  barren  places  whither 
they  fled  for  refuge.  Sometimes  they  formed  des- 
perate marauding  bands,  and,  maddened  by  hunger, 
fiercely  attacked  the  thriving  settlements  of  the 
English.  The  English  destroyed  them  like  vermin 
wherever  they  could.  All  the  Irish  high-roads  were 
infested  by  men,  women,  and  children  in  the  last 
stages  of  want,  who  begged  piteously  of  the  passers- 
by,  to  be  often  answered  with  a  shot,  or  a  thrust 
from  a  pike. 

It  was  towards  the  close  of  Elizabeth's  reign  that 
the  famous  university.  Trinity  College,  was  founded 
by  that  queen  in  Dublin  (1593).  It  is  said  Trinity 
that  this  university  owed  its  existence  to  College. 
the  suggestion  of  the  great  and  wise  English  philoso- 
pher. Lord  Bacon.  He  proposed  to  Elizabeth  that 
the  Bible,  liturgy,  and  catechism  of  the  English 
church  should  be  translated  and  spread  in  the  Irish 
language ;  and  this  was  one  of  the  main  purposes 
for  which  Trinity  College  was  founded.  It  was,  of 
course,  as  it  has  been  ever  since,  a  Protestant  insti- 
tution.    No  Catholics  were,  on  any  account,  admitted, 


158  YOUNG    PEOPLe'^S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

either  to  a  share  in  its  government,  to  its  body  of 
instructors,  or  to  its  classes  of  students.  The  spot 
where  the  ancient  monastery  of  All  Hallows  stood  was 
granted  by  Dublin  for  the  building  of  the  university. 
Elizabeth  made  generous  grants  of  the  lands  which 
had  been  taken  from  the  abbeys  to  support  it  ; 
and,  to  these  grants,  James  added  still  others,  of 
lands  derived  from  the  confiscations  in  Ulster. 
Many  of  the  Protestants  in  Ireland  subscribed  gen- 
erously to  the  funds  of  the  university,  and  some 
English  army  officers  presented  it  with  a  library. 

When  Trinity  College  had  got  fairly  under  way, 

the  idea  of  printing  the  religious  books  in  Irish  was 

.    .      carried    out.      The    casting  of   Irish  type 

The  printing  °  . 

of  religious  was  bcguu  ;  and  the  first  book  ever  printed 
in  the  Irish  tongue  was  the  Protestant 
catechism,  issued  in  the  first  year  of  the  seventeenth 
century  by  the  university  press.  The  New  Testa- 
ment was  translated  into  Irish,  and  was  first  pub- 
lished three  years  later  (1603).  The  Old  Testament 
did  not  appear  until  towards  the  close  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  Trinity  College,  under  the  fostering 
care  of  the  crown,  grew  rapidly,  and  soon  became 
wealthy  and  flourishing.  It  was  intended  as  a  bul- 
wark of  Protestantism  in  Ireland.  Its  influence  was 
exerted  to  attempt  the  conversion  of  the  people. 
But  in  this  effort  it  did  not  achieve  much  success. 
The  Irish  clung  to  the  Catholic  faith  through  every 
persecution  and  persuasion,  and  a  vast  majority  of 
them  adhere  to  it  to  this  day. 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  I59 

The  older  institutions  of  learning  in  Ireland,  which 
had  once  spread  the  light  of  knowledge  and  the 
inspiration  of  religion  through  Europe,  had  been 
extinguished,  or  had  decayed  and  died  out,  amid  the 
long-continued  civil  convulsions.  Only  one  Catholic 
college  of  any  importance  survived.  This  was  the 
colleo:e    of    St.    Nicholas    at   Galway.      In   ^^  ^  „ 

o  •'  ^        The  College 

the  reign  of  James,  this  institution  is  said  of  st. 
to  have  contained  thirteen  hundred  Catho-  ^^'^^°^^^- 
lie  and  native  scholars.  Under  James's  harsh  rule 
of  Ireland,  the  college  of  St.  Nicholas  was  abruptly- 
closed,  because  its  head,  a  courageous  priest  named 
John  Lynch,  would  not  desert  his  faith,  and  accept 
that  of  the  church  of  England.  The  Irish  Catholics 
of  the  better  class  were  now  compelled  to  send  their 
children  to  the  continent  to  be  educated  ;  and  large 
numbers,  for  a  while,  attended  the  famous  schools 
of  France  and  Germany.  But  even  this  was  not 
long  permitted.  By  a  decree  of  the  lord-deputy 
Chichester  (1610),  all  Irish  parents  who  had  sent 
their  children  to  foreisfn  schools  were  ordered  to  call 
them  back  to  Ireland  within  a  year.  Heavy  penal- 
ties of  fine  and  imprisonment  were  inflicted  upon 
those  who  disobeyed  this  tyrannical  command. 

The  reign  of  Elizabeth,  noted  for  the  great  number 
of  brilliant  Ensrlish  writers  who  adorned  it,  was  also 
marked  by  many  sfood  Irish  historians  and 

•'  J    <^  Irish  writers. 

poets.     Almost  all  of  these,  however,  wrote 

their  works   in    Latin.      The   most   celebrated   Irish 

writers  of  the  rei^n  were  Richard  Stanihurst,  whose 


l60         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

verses  are  still,  to  some  degree,  remembered  ;  Lom- 
bard and  Usher,  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  arch- 
bishops ;  O'Sullivan,  O'Meara,  and  White.  The 
ancient  order  of  bards,  too,  still  survived.  Their 
poems,  relating  the  deeds  of  heroes,  or  breathing 
pious  thoughts  on  the  chief  events  of  biblical  his- 
tory, won  the  praises  of  the  great  English  poet, 
Edmund  Spenser,  who  dwelt  for  some  time  in  Ire- 
land. The  bard  Owen  Ward  followed  Tyrone  when 
he  fled  from  Ireland,  and  wrote  odes  at  Rome  in 
praise  of  Tyrone's  military  prowess.  But  the  bards 
were  regarded  with  a  jealous  eye  by  the  English 
masters  of  the  country ;  for  it  was  thought  that  their 
glowing  verses  kept  alive  the  spirit  of  rebellion,  and 
the  desire  for  national  freedom,  among  the  native 
Irish.  Edicts  were  therefore  issued  against  them  ; 
and  many  of  them  were  forced  to  seek  flight,  or  to 
abandon  their  ancient  calling. 


wentworth's  iron  rule.  i6i 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

wentworth's  iron  rule. 

THE  accession  of  Charles  the  First  as  king  of 
England  (1625),  aroused  in  the  oppressed  Irish 
the  hope  of  gentler  treatment  from  their  masters. 
It  was  supposed  that  Charles  regarded  the  charies  the 
Catholics  with  more  favor  than  his  father  ^''^^^• 
had  done,  and  would  therefore  establish  a  greater 
toleration  of  worship  throughout  his  realm.  But 
before  very  long  both  the  English  and  the  Irish 
learned,  to  their  grief,  that  no  faith  could  be  reposed 
in  Charles's  wisdom  or  sincerity  Like  his  father 
before  him,  and  his  two  sons  after  him,  Charles 
made  fair  promises,  only  to  break  them  when  it  was 
not  convenient  to  keep  them.  James  had  left  the 
royal  treasury  in  an  almost  bankrupt  condition,  and 
Charles's  first  and  sorest  need  was  money.  In  order 
to  replenish  his  purse,  he  was  ready  to  adopt  any 
means,  gentle  or  severe  ;  and  he  looked  to  Ireland  to 
contribute  large  supplies  to  his  treasury.  His  first 
step  was  to  make  solemn  promises  to  give  the  Irish 
landlords  good  titles  to  their  properties,  and  to  relax 
the  severe  laws  by  which  the  Irish  were  oppressed. 


1 62         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IKiiLAND. 

Many  of  the  Irish  lords  and  gentlemen  hastened 
to  seize  the  opportunity  which  the  king's  necessities 
seemed  to  leave  open  to  them.  They  sent  a  deputa- 
„,    ,  .  ^        tion  to  him,  who  a^rreed  to  furnish  him  with 

The  Irish  '  ^ 

lords  and  the  ;£  120,000,  if  he  would  grant  them  certain 
*'*"^'  concessions.     The   principal    concessions, 

which  were  called  "graces,"  were,  that  good  titles 
should  be  given  to  the  land-owners  in  Connaught, 
the  only  one  of  the  four  provinces  which  had  not  as 
vet  been  planted  ;  that  the  occupation  of  a  domain 
for  sixty  years  should  give  its  owner  a  perfect  title, 
which  could  not  be  disturbed  ;  that  Catholics  who 
took  simply  an  oath  of  civil  allegiance,  and  not 
the  oath  of  supremacy,  should  be  allowed  to  prac- 
tise as  lawyers  in  the  courts  ;  that  taxes  should  not 
be  levied  with  the  aid  of  soldiers ;  that  felons  should 
not  be  allowed  to  testify  so  as  to  endanger  the 
liberty  of  Irish  subjects;  and  that  an  Irish  Parlia- 
The  ment    should   be    held   to    confirm    these 

"graces."  demands.  Charles  readily  assented  to 
these  graces,  and  the  Irish  lords  implicitly  relied  on 
his  royal  word.  They  were  speedily  to  find  out  that 
it  was  valueless. 

They  promptly  paid  one-third  of  the  sum  which 
they  had  promised  to  the  king  :  the  other  two-thirds 
were  to  be  paid  in  the  ensuing  two  years.  The  lord- 
deputy  of  Ireland  at  this  time  was  lord  Falkland, 
a  man  of  lenient  and  generous  nature,  who  after- 
wards played  a  leading  part  in  the  English  civil  war. 
But  Falkland  was  compelled  by  the  king  to  play  a  trick 


wentworth's  iron  rule.  163 

upon  the  Irish.     In  accordance  with  the  graces,  he 
called  tosrether  an  Irish  Parliament  to  con-  ^  ,, ,    ,, 

^  _  Falkland's 

firm  the  concessions  promised  by  Charles,  rule  in 
But  now  came  the  first  of  Charles's  many  ^'■^^^"^• 
acts  of  perfidy  towards  Ireland.  In  the  summoning 
of  Parliament,  certain  legal  requirements  were  pur- 
posely neglected ;  so  that  when  the  Houses  met,  they 
were  declared  to  be  an  illegal  Parliament,  whose  acts 
were  null  and  void.  They  therefore  dissolved,  and 
no  attempt  was  made  by  Falkland  to  call  together  a 
new  and  legal  body.  Soon  after  this,  Falkland  was 
recalled  to  England,  because  he  was  too  tolerant 
towards  the  Catholics. 

A  new  and  much  sterner  master  was  soon  after- 
wards imposed  upon  Ireland.  This  was  Sir  Thomas 
Wentworth,    afterwards    more   famous    as   ,„ 

Wentworth 

the  earl  of  Strafford.  Wentworth  was  a  made  lord- 
most  fit  instrument  to  carry  out  the  wishes 
of  a  tyrant.  Bold,  eloquent,  iron-willed,  haughty,  un- 
scrupulous, despotic  in  character,  defiant  of  obstacle, 
he  went  to  Ireland  to  achieve  certain  ends,  and 
stopped  at  no  cruelty  or  deception  in  order  to  accom- 
plish them.  He  had  belonged  to  the  party  which  in 
England  opposed  the  king,  but  the  king  won  him 
over  by  a  title  and  high  office.  Wentworth  declared 
that  his  method  was  to  be  *' thorough,"  in  ruling  both 
the  church  and  the  civil  affairs.  He  took  up  his 
residence  in  Dublin  castle,  where  he  displayed  much 
state,  being  attended  by  a  large  bodyguard,  and 
bearing  himself  with  arrogant   pride.     He  first  de- 


164  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

manded  of  the  Irish  privy  council  a  large  grant  of 
money  for  the  king,  promising  that,  if  it  were  given, 
he  would  summon  an  Irish  Parliament. 

To  the  letter  of  this  promise  Wentworth  adhered. 
The  Irish  Houses  were  summoned,  but  the  lord- 
^t-   T  .  t-        deputy  took  o-ood  care  that  the  election  of 

The  Irish  L        J  i^ 

Houses  members  should  result  as  he  wished.     He 

summoned.     ^^^^1^^^^    ^^at    the    House    of    Commons 

should  be  nearly  balanced  between  the  Protestants 
and  Catholics,  so  that  he  might  play  off  one  against 
the  other ;  while  a  small  body  of  his  special  adher- 
ents could  turn  any  vote  one  way  or  the  other,  as  he 
desired.  When  Parliament  met,  Wentworth,  after 
dictating  who  should  preside  as  its  speaker,  announced 
that  there  must  be  two  sessions  held.  The  first  ses- 
sion was  to  be  "  for  the  crown,"  and  the  other  *'for  the 
country."  In  the  first  session,  the  subject  of  granting 
money  to  the  king  would  be  considered  ;  in  the  sec- 
ond, the  graces,  which  had  been  so  long  delayed, 
would  be  taken  up.  Parliament  was  really  in  Went- 
worth's  power,  and  was  forced  to  consent  to  this 
^  ^  .,.  arransrement.     In  the  first  session,  accord- 

Subsidies  ^ 

voted  to  the    ingly,  subsidics  to  the  amount  of  ;£270,ooo 
*"^'  were  voted   to   the  king.     Some  months 

after,  the  second  session  was  held.  But  now  Went- 
worth showed  the  utter  bad  faith  of  both  his  royal 
master  and  himself.  He  coolly  told  Parliament  that 
the  graces  must  not  be  passed,  and,  by  adroitly  set- 
ting the  Protestants  and  Catholics  by  the  ears,  pro- 
cured a  vote  by  which  the  graces  were  abandoned. 


wentworth's  iron  rule.  165 

Wentworth  had  now  wrung  from  Parliament  a 
large  sum  of  money,  which  Charles  most  of  all 
wanted.  He  proceeded  to  carry  out  his  scheme  to 
be  ''thorough,"  with  the  same  prompt  and  imperious 
vigor.  The  Protestant  church  in  Ireland  The  Protes- 
had  fallen  into  a  state  of  distress  and  *^"^  church, 
poverty.  Many  of  its  lands  and  other  resources  had 
been  taken  away  under  one  or  another  pretext.  Its 
edifices  had  in  many  places  been  abandoned,  and  had 
fallen  into  decay.  Good  men  could  not  be  persuaded 
to  serve  as  clergymen.  The  pay  of  the  clergy  had 
fallen  to  a  very  low  figure.  Wentworth  was  deter- 
mined that  all  this  should  be  changed,  and  that  the 
church  in  Ireland  should  be  built  up  anew.  He 
caused  the  dilapidated  churches  to  be  repaired.  He 
compelled  those  who  had  taken  church-lands  to  re- 
store them.  He  made  grants  to  the  clergy  from  the 
lands  held  by  the  crown.  In  one  instance,  he  ex- 
torted from  the  earl  of  Cork  a  domain  worth  ;£"2,ooo 
a  year,  which  the  earl  had  audaciously  taken  away 
from  the  college  of  Youghal  and  the  diocese  of 
Waterford.  The  lord-deputy's  hand  fell  as  sternly 
upon  the  recent  English  comers  to  Ireland,  as  upon 
the  older  settlers  and  the  natives. 

The  next  task  which  Wentworth  undertook  was  to 
get  his  grasp  upon  the  estates  of  Connaught.  The 
landlords  of   that  province  had   thus    far  ^^ 

^  The  estates 

escaped  by  paying  liberal  sums  of  money  of  con- 
into  the  royal  treasury.  They  now  suffered  ^^^^  ** 
the  same  gross  injustice  which  had  been  inflicted  on 


1 66         YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 

the  landlords  of  Ulster,  Leinster,  and  Munster.  The 
titles  to  the  lands  of  Connaught  were  called  in  ques- 
tion. Wentworth  caused  suits  to  be  brought  against 
them  on  behalf  of  the  king.  Cunning  lawyers  were 
employed  to  find  flaws  in  these  titles.  Juries  were 
packed  and  threatened,  that  they  might  slavishly 
decide  the  cases  brought  before  them  in  the  king's 
favor.  In  some  places,  however,  the  juries  proved 
obstinate.  When  this  happened,  the  jurymen  were 
heavily  fined,  and,  in  some  instances,  thrown  into 
prison.  Thus  the  estates  of  the  earl  of  Clanricarde 
and  of  other  large  proprietors  were  declared  to  be 
forfeited.  In  the  end  the  land-owners  found  Went- 
worth's  methods  too  stern  and  unrelenting,  and  gave 
way  in  despair. 

But  Wentworth  did  not  have  time  to  carry  out  the 
scheme  of  planting  Connaught  with  English  colonies, 
as  the  other  provinces  had  been  planted.  The 
greater  part  of  the  lands,  therefore,  were  allowed  to 
remain  in  the  hands  of  the  former  owners.  But 
these  owners  had  to  pay  heavily  for  the  privilege  of 
keeping  what  was  justly  their  own.  Some  of  them 
Seizure  of  wcrc  forccd  to  surrcndcr  a  part  of  their 
lands.  property  to  the  church,  in  order  to  keep 

the  rest.  Others  paid  very  large  fines,  that  they  might 
remain  undisturbed.  Many  even  of  the  English 
Protestants  who  had  recently  settled  in  Ireland  felt 
the  stress  of  Wentvvorth's  tyranny.  Lord  Wilmot, 
one  of  the  new  nobles,  was  deprived  of  a  part  of  his 
estates.     Lord  Loftus,  one  of  the  lords  justices,  and 


wentworth's  iron  rule.  167 

the  son  of  a  Protestant  bishop,  was  expelled  from  his 
office  for  opposing  the  haughty  lord-deputy's  will ; 
and  Sir  Piers  Crosby,  an  equally  loyal  Protestant, 
was  for  a  similar  reason  driven  from  the  privy 
council. 

But  Charles  was  now  in  great  trouble  at  home 
in  England.  His  arbitrary  conduct  was  being  op- 
posed by  a  powerful  and  constantly  growing  party. 
His  attempt  to  raise  ship-money  without  consent  of 
his  Parliament  was  being  vigorously  resisted.  All 
things  foreshadowed  the  coming  of  a  great  civil  con- 
flict. The  Scots  had  risen  in  open  revolt.  Charles 
saw  that  no  time  was  to  be  lost  in  defending  his 
crown.  He  summoned  Wentworth  to  London,  re- 
ceived   his    report,    created    him    earl    of 

.  Went- 

Strafford,  and   sent  him   back  to   Ireland  worth's 
with  the  higher  powers  of  lord-lieutenant,   increased 

powers. 

Wentworth  at  once  proceeded  to  collect 
the  Irish  army,  which  he  had  raised  to  the  number 
of  nine  thousand,  and  had  caused  to  be  well  drilled 
and  well  provided,  for  the  purpose  of  invading  Scot- 
land. He  summoned  an  Irish  Parliament,  which, 
obedient  to  his  will,  voted  a  large  sum  for  the  king's 
use.  But  while  Wentworth  was  making  these  prepa- 
rations, Charles  made  peace  with  the  Scots ;  and  his 
energetic  measures  became  of  no  avail. 

Wentworth  returned  to  England,  to  be  soon  after 
impeached  by  the  famous  "  Long  Parliament,"  con- 
victed, and  beheaded  for  high  treason.  He  left 
behind  him  in  Ireland  a  hated   memory.      In    some 


l68         YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 

respects,  he  had  been  an  able  ruler.  He  maintained 
wentworth  Order  in  the  island,  and  caused  the  laws 
as  a  ruler,  ^q  ^^  impartially  enforced.  He  did  all  he 
could  to  foster  the  linen  trade,  which,  indeed,  he 
established  in  Ireland,  by  importing  weavers  from 
Flanders,  encouraging  the  growth  of  flax,  and  caus- 
ing mills  to  be  erected.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  he 
stamped  out  the  woollen  trade,  which  he  found  to  be 
a  growing  industry  which  might  in  time  rival  that 
of  England.  He  went  to  Ireland,  as  he  declared,  to 
make  the  king  *'the  most  absolute  potentate  in 
Christendom,"  and  had  sought  to  carry  out  his  pur- 
pose with  grim  vigor  and  perseverance.  The  Irish 
therefore,  as  well  as  the  resident  English,  were  re- 
joiced at  his  fall,  and  were  glad  to  hear  that  he  had 
died  on  the  scaffold  ;  for  no  one  had  ever  done  more 
than  he  to  fasten  the  odious  rule  of  England  upon 
Ireland. 


THE  TEN  years'  REBELLION.  169 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

THE    TEN    years'    REBELLION. 

THE  long  period  of  almost  unbroken  oppression 
and  cruelty  through  which  the  Irish  had  passed 
since  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  had  now  prepared 
the  way  for  another  desperate  revolt  against  English 
rule.  The  massacres  and  desolation  of  the  unhappy 
island  by  Elizabeth's  agents  ;  the  pitiless  incitements 
confiscations  of  estates,  followed  by  the  to  revolt, 
planting  of  the  land  by  James  ;  the  brutal  persecu- 
tion of  the  religion  of  the  vast  majority,  by  both  ; 
and,  more  recently,  the  imperious  tyranny  of  Went- 
worth,  — had  planted  in  the  breasts  of  the  Irish  a  deep- 
seated  hatred  of  their  English  masters.  Nor  was  it 
the  native  Irish  alone  who  harbored  this  enduring 
hostility.  It  was  shared  also  by  the  descendants  of  the 
first  English  settlers,  — those  whom  we  have  called, 
to  distinguish  them  from  the  natives,  the  Anglo-Irish. 
They,  too,  were  Catholics,  and  had  suffered  for  their 
faith  in  common  with  their  Celtic  neighbors.  They, 
too,  had  been  deprived  of  their  fair  domains,  and  had 
seen  their  relatives  and  friends  put  mercilessly  to  the 
sword.  Only  an  opportunity  was  wanting  to  set  the 
whole  island  in  a  blaze  of  rebellion. 


I/O         YOUNG    PEOPLES    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

This  opportunity  seemed  to  come  with  the  politi- 
cal storm  which  had  lately  arisen  in  England. 
Charles  and  his  Parliament  had  reached 
Conflict  ^^  open,  bitter,  and  lasting  quarrel      The 

Charles  and  Puritaus,  the  Independents,  the  Scottish 
men^^"^^*^'  Prcsbyterians,  were  resolved  to  resist 
Charles's  usurpation  of  powers  which  did 
not  belong  to  the  crown ;  and  Charles  was  equally 
determined  not  to  yield.  After  his  failure  to  seize 
five  of  the  leading  members  of  Parliament,  Charles 
had  left  London  ;  and  now  Fingland  was  on  the  very 
verge  of  civil  war  {1641).  Went  worth  had  mean- 
while been  succeeded  in  the  government  of  Ireland 
by  two  lords  justices.  Sir  William  Parsons  and  Sir 
John  Borlase.  Both  of  these  men  leaned  to  the  side 
of  Parliament  as  against  the  king,  and  they  were 
both  wanting  in  firmness  and  vigor  of  conduct.  The 
characters  and  the  desires  of  these  new  rulers  of 
Ireland  enabled  the  revolt  to  grow  more  formid- 
able than  if  they  had  been  resolute,  and  loyal  to 
Charles's  crown. 

In  the  course  of  the  long  and  unhappy  years  of 
Ireland's  oppression,  large  numbers  of  Irishmen  had 
, .  ^       .       left  their  native  country,  and  had  enlisted 

Irishmen  in       _  _  -'  ^ 

foreign  in  the  armics  of  foreign  nations.     Among 

armies.  them  wcrc  many  sons   of    the    old   Irish 

chiefs,  as  well  as  members  of  the  long-settled  Anglo- 
Irish  families.  They  had  served,  often  with  conspicu- 
ous valor,  on  many  fields,  under  the  banners  of  Spain 
and  France.     Thus  a  multitude  of  Irishmen  of  mili- 


THE    TEN    YEARS     REBELLION.  I /I 

tary  experience  were  on  the  continent,  prepared,  at 
the  ripe  moment,  to  carry  the  aid  of  their  skilful 
arms  to  their  own  land.  Two  of  the  most  noted  of 
these  Irish  soldiers  were  Hugh  O'Neil,  the  son  of  the 
brave  Tyrone,  and  Rory  O'More.  Hugh  O'Neil  was 
killed  at  Brussels,  while  on  his  way  to  Ireland.  But 
it  always  seemed  that,  when  Ireland  needed  a  valiant 
leader  and  a  strong  arm,  the  ancient  royal  house  of 
O  Neil  was  ready  to  supply  them.  Phelim  O'Neil,  a 
nephew  of  Tyrone,  and  a  man  of  harsh  and  savage 
nature,  took  his  cousin's  place,  as  one  of  Rory 
the  Irish  rebel  chiefs.  Rory  O'More,  how-  o'^ore. 
ever,  was  the  leading  spirit  of  the  revolt,  which  had 
been  carefully  planned,  and  was  now  to  burst  forth 
with  great  violence,  and  to  last,  with  scarcely  a 
pause,  for  the  long  period  of  ten  years. 

Rory  O'More  was  a"n  Irish  gentleman  of  old  family. 
He  was  tall  and  handsome  in  person.  His  manners 
were  free  and  attractive.  He  had  displayed,  as  a 
soldier  in  the  Spanish  army,  a  courage  and  skill  in 
warfare  which  won  him  much  renown.  He  was  a 
sincere  and  ardent  patriot.  So  beloved  and  trusted 
was  he  by  the  Irish,  that  it  was  a  common  saying 
that  the  Irish  rested  their  faith  on  "  God,  the 
Virgin,  and  Rory  0']\Iore."  O'More  soon  drew  to 
him  a  devoted  band  of  Irish  lords,  gentlemen,  and 
soldiers.  To  his  standard  came  McGuires  Revolt  of 
and  O'Neils,  O'Reillys  and  McMahons,  0'^°^^- 
Dillons  and  O'Byrnes.  Second  among  the  leaders 
of  the  revolt  was  the  brutal    Phelim    O'Neil.     The 


1/2  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

plan  of  the  revolt  was  soon  decided  upon,  and  was 
twofold.  It  was  agreed  that  an  attempt  should  be 
made  to  seize  Dublin  castle  by  surprise,  and  that, 
at  the  same  time,  a  general  rising  should  be  made 
throughout  the  province  of  Ulster.  O'More  took 
command  of  the  forces  which  were  to  be  directed 
against  the  castle,  and  Phelim  O'Neil  was  intrusted 
with  the  task  of  kindling  rebellion  in  northern 
Ireland. 

The  attempt  upon  the  castle  failed.  A  traitor  in 
O'More's  camp  betrayed  the  plan  to  the  lords  jus- 
tices. The  latter  had  thus  far  made  no  effort  to 
quench  the  rebellion,  though  they  knew  it  was  about 
to  break  out.  It  is  probable,  indeed,  that  the  lords 
justices  wished  to  see  a  revolt,  so  that  the  lands  of 
the  leading  rebels  might  be  confiscated,  in  which 
case  they  hoped  to  receive  their  share.  But  they 
were  forced  to  defend  Dublin  castle.  Sufficient 
troops  were  hastily  gathered,  several  leading  rebels 
were  arrested  in  Dublin,  and  O'More  and  his  ad- 
o.  ,.  herents  were  forced  to  abandon  their  pro- 

Phehm  Jr 

O'Neil  in  ject.  Phclim  O'Neil,  on  the  other  hand, 
completely  succeeded  in  his  efforts  in 
Ulster.  The  news  soon  arrived  in  Dublin  that  the 
whole  province  was  in  arms.  In  no  long  time,  O'Neil 
was  at  the  head  of  thirty  thousand  men.  The  greater 
part  of  this  force  was  composed  of  those  Irish  who 
had  been  driven  off  the  land,  who  had  subsisted 
miserably  in  the  bogs  and  woods,  and  who  had  thus 
become  vagrants  and  outlaws.     They  were,  indeed, 


THE    TEN    YEARS     REBELLION.  1 73 

a  mob  of  desperate,  ill-conditioned  men,  for  the  most 
part  armed  only  with  knives  and  pitchforks,  but 
who  burned  to  avenge  themselves  upon  the  English 
intruders   in    the   land. 

The  war  in  Ulster  at  once  assumed  a  horrible,  bar- 
barous character.  On  both  sides  the  most  hideous 
cruelties  were  committed.  Which  side  began  the 
awful  series  of  massacres  which  took  place,  cannot 
now  be  definitely  decided.  Two  massacres  occurred 
at  nearly  the  same  time.  The  English  fell  upon  the 
unprotected  Irish  at  Island  Magee,  and  included  in 
their  slaughter  the  aged,  the  sick,  women,  and  little 
children.  Phelim  O'Neil,  who  was  promptly  joined 
by  many  of  the  old  Ulster  chiefs,  spread  a  not  less 
ruthless  havoc  through  Tyrone.  He  attacked  the 
English  settlements,  plundered  and  burned  their 
houses,  stripped  men,  women,  and  children,  and,  in 
the  dead  of  winter,  drove  them  naked  into  the  woods 
and  bogs  and  along  the  cheerless  roads ;  and  in 
some  places  mercilessly  mutilated  and  hanged  them. 
Many  of  the  poor  creatures,  expelled  from  their 
homes,  died  of  cold  and  starvation,  as  they  were 
attempting  to  reach  a  place  of  safety.  Failing  to 
capture  Enniskillen  and  Lisburn,  O'Neil  o'Neii's 
became  savage  with  rage,  and  wreaked  his  atrocities, 
fury  upon  every  English  village  and  town  in  his 
way.  The  entire  English  and  Scottish  inhabitants 
of  three  parishes  were  murdered.  The  town  of 
Newry  and  the  cathedral  of  Armagh  were  burned 
to    the   ground.      Sometimes    women    and    children 


174         YOUNG    PEOPLES    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

were  burned  alive  in  the  houses  in  which  they  had 
sought  refuge. 

But  there  were,  happily,  brighter  sides  to  the 
picture.  In  some  places  the  Catholic  priests,  at  the 
risk  of  their  lives,  sheltered  and  fed  the  English 
fugitives,  and  aided  them  in  their  flight.  Some  of 
the  Irish  chiefs,  too,  although  leaders  in 
ment  of  coio-  the  rebellion,  treated  the  English  with 
nists  by         |-J.^g  Christian  o^entleness.     O'Reilly,  who 

O'Reilly.  ^  ^ 

had  headed  the  revolt  in  Cavan,  did  not 
kill  any  of  the  English,  even  in  battle.  He  took  the 
settlers  prisoners,  but  had  them  escorted  in  safety 
to  Dublin  by  some  of  his  own  soldiers.  In  many 
cases,  too,  the  native  Irish,  though  poor,  and  suffer- 
ing grievously  from  the  wrongs  inflicted  on  them  by 
the  English,  afforded  protection  and  nourishment  to 
the  settlers  as  they  fled  from  their  homes.  It  is  sup- 
posed that  the  number  of  persons  slaughtered  by 
Phelim  O'Neil,  and  the  other  chiefs  who  followed  his 
brutal  example,  was  between  four  and  five  thousand ; 
and  that  eight  thousand  died  from  cold  and  hunger. 
Great  numbers  of  the  fugitives  from  Ulster  flocked, 
Fugitives  in  naked,  cold,  and  starving,  into  Dublin, 
Dublin.  bringing  with  them  the   horrible   tale   of 

the  burnings,  massacres,  and  desolation  they  had  left 
behind.  But  soon  the  lords  deputies  drove  these 
fugitives,  though  loyal,  out  of  Dublin  ;  and,  thus  re- 
duced to  extremity,  many  of  them  joined  hands  with 
the  rebels. 

The  revolt  in  Ireland  soon  assumed  a  twofold  char- 


THE    TEN    YEARS     REBELLION.  1 75 

acter.  It  had  been  begun  by  native  Irish  chiefs  and 
their  adherents.  But  now  a  revolt,  quite  separate 
from  that  of  the  native  Irish,  sprang  up  among  the 
Anglo-Irish.  The  two  did  not  unite  their  forces,  or 
pursue  a  common  plan  of  campaign.  Each  had  its 
own  separate  aims,  projects,  and  movements.  The 
native  Irish  wished  to  achieve  the  entire  and  abso- 
lute independence  of  their  country.  The  The  Angio- 
larger  number  of  the  Anglo-Irish  did  not  ^"^^• 
desire  separation  from  England.  They  still  professed 
to  be  loyal  to  the  crown.  They  only  made  war,  they 
declared,  upon  the  king's  representatives  and  agents. 
They  simply  demanded  freedom  of  worship,  and  se- 
curity in  their  estates.  They  fought  for  their  altars 
and  their  homes.  On  the  other  hand,  the  English 
and  Scots  who  comprised  the  officials,  officers,  and 
soldiers  in  Ireland,  were  divided  into  two  parties, 
between  whom  the  breach  became  wider  and  wider 
every  day.  There  was  the  party  which  supported 
the  king  in  his  struggle  with  Parliament ;  and  there 
was  the  party  which  sustained  Parliament  against ' 
the  king.  Of  the  latter  party  were  the  lords  jus- 
tices. 

The  earl  of  Ormond,  a  friend  of  the  king,  was 
put  in  command  of  the  forces  in  Ireland.  One  of 
the  curious  entanglements  of  the  rebellion  was,  that 
Charles,  in  his  desperation,  wished  to  conciliate  the 
rebels,  in  order  that  he  might  withdraw  his  troops 
for  use  against  the  Puritans  in  England.  On  the 
other  hand,  the   lords   justices,  who  wished   for  an 


176         YOUNG   people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

excuse  to  confiscate  the  land,  were  listless  in  their 

attempts  to   put    down   the   rebellion.      The    rising 

gradually  spread   from    Ulster   to    Munster,  and   to 

Connaught,  and  finally  into  the  English  Pale  itself. 

Seven  lords  of  the  Pale,  with  one  thousand  men  of 

good  station,  held  a  conference  with  Rory  O'More 

and  his  chiefs  on  Crofty  Hill ;  and,  soon  after,  the 

The  Pale  in  cutirc  Palc  was  honcycombcd  with  revolt, 
revolt.  js^^  |-]^g  ^iQSg  Qf  ^^q  yg^j.  (1641),  the  wholc 

country,  excepting  Dublin  and  a  few  of  the  seaport 
and  garrisoned  towns,  was  covered  by  the  rebellion. 
But  Phelim  O'Neil  had  not  only  practised  the  most 
barbarous  atrocities,  for  which  he  had  been  severely 
censured  by  the  Catholic  synod  of  Armagh,  but  had 
also  shown  much  lack  of  capacity  in  war. 

The  Irish  chiefs  accordingly  appealed  earnestly  to 
Owen  Roe  O'Neil,  Phelim's  cousin,  who  was  then  in 
Flanders,  to  come  over  and  take  command  of   the 
insurgent  army.     Owen  O'Neil,  or,  as  he  was  famil- 
iarly called,   "  Red  Owen,"  was  a  famous 

Red  Owen.  -^  . 

soldier,  and  a  chivalrous,  large-hearted, 
honest  man.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Ireland,  a 
wonderful  change  took  place  in  the  Irish  forces. 
The  wild  levies  of  Phelim  were  transformed  into 
sturdy,  well-disciplined  battalions.  Re-enforcements 
kept  coming  from  the  continent  ;  and,  at  about  the 
same  time,  another  soldier  of  mark,  Colonel  Preston, 
accompanied  by  five  hundred  military  ofBcers  and  a 
large  quantity  of  stores,  set  out  from  the  Pale  to  join 
the  Anglo-Irish  revolt  at  Wexford.     Up  to  this  time. 


THE  TEN  YEARS  REBELLION.  1/7 

the  native  Irish  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Anglo-* 
Irish  on  the  other,  had  fought  the  English  separately. 
The  time  had  now  come  for  them  to  join  in  common 
action. 

A  great  convention,  composed  of  members  from 
every  part  of  Ireland,  was  summoned  by  the  Ulster 
Catholics,  and  met  at  Kilkenny  (October,   _^ 

-^  /^  '     The  conven- 

1642).  It  contained  the  Catholic  lords,  a  uon  of 
large  number  of  Catholic  bishops  and  *^'^''^°°y* 
priests,  and  over  two  hundred  lay  delegates.  This 
convention  invested  the  executive  power  in  a  com- 
mittee, consisting  of  six  members  from  each  of  the 
four  provinces.  It  divided  the  army  into  four  divis- 
ions. To  Red  Hugh  was  given  the  command  in 
Ulster,  Gerald  Barry  received  that  of  Munster,  Col- 
onel Preston  that  of  Leinster,  and  Sir  John  Burke 
that  of  Connaught.  The  convention  also  created  a 
high  court,  and  made  provision  for  its  sessions,  and 
appointed  lesser  judges  and  magistrates  for  the  sev- 
eral counties.  A  great  seal  was  devised,  and  the 
convention  even  took  measures  to  coin  Irish  money. 
Thus  an  Irish  government  seemed  to  be  established. 
Yet  the  convention,  while  thus  taking  energetic 
measures  to  organize  civil  war,  declared  that  the  war 
was  not  to  be  waged  against  the  king,  but  against 
the  Puritans,  and  in  defence  of  the  Roman-Catholic 
faith. 


178         YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

Cromwell's  iron  hand. 

IN  spite  of  the  strong  alliance  between  the  two 
sections  of  the  Irish,  there  was  but  little  severe 
fighting  done  anywhere  in  Ireland.  King  Charles, 
sorely  pressed  by  his  Puritan  enemies  in  England, 
and  learning  that  his  army  in  Ireland  was  in  a  miser- 
able state,  was  anxious  to  come  to  terms  with  the 
"confederates,"  as  the  combined  Irish  were  called. 
At  last  his  agents  succeeded  in  persuading  them  to 
A  year's  make  a  truce  of  a  year  (1643).  The  lords 
truce.  deputies,  who  were  favorable  to  Parliament, 

and  their  adherents,  were  removed  from  office ;  and 
Ormond,  who  was  created  a  marquis,  was  appointed 
lord-lieutenant.  A  few  months  after,  the .  truce  was 
extended  to  two  years  longer.  Each  party  continued 
to  occupy  the  places  in  which  the  truce  found  it. 
The  confederates  agreed  to  give  Charles  ^^30,000,  and 
to  supply  him  with  some  troops  for  service  in  Scot- 
...        .         land.     Soon  after  the  truce  had  been  con- 

Dissensions 

among  the      cludcd,  howcvcr,  scHOus  disseusious  broke 

out  between  the  confederates  themselves. 

One   party,  headed    by  Red    Owen,  still  wished    to 


CROMWELL  S    IRON    HAND.  1/9 

break  from  England  altogether,  and  to  strike  for  Irish 
independence.  The  other  party,  composed  mostly  of 
the  Anglo-Irish,  desired  to  come  to  terms  with  the 
king,  after  securing  freedom  of  worship  and  the  peace- 
ful possession  of  their  lands.  An  envoy  of  the  pope, 
Rinucini,  came  to  Ireland,  and  gave  his  influence  to 
the  party  which  wished  to  make  Ireland  entirely  free. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  truce  (1646),  the  conflict 
broke  out  anew.  Red  Owen  inflicted  a  severe  defeat 
upon  Munroe,  the  Scottish  general,  at  Benburb  ;  and 
later,  being  joined  by  Preston,  he  marched  on  Dublin. 
The  defences  of  the  city  were  weak ;  and  news  had 
reached  Ormond,  who  was  in  command,  that  Charles 
had  been  surrendered  by  the  Scots  to  Parliament. 
Many  of  the  Puritan  vessels  were  now  cruising  in  St. 
George's  Channel.  Ormond  declared  that  the  royal 
cause  was  wholly  lost.  Meanwhile  the  two  Irish 
generals.  Red  Owen  and  Preston,  quarrelled  bitterly ; 
and,  fearing  defeat,  they  raised  the  siege  of  Dublin. 
Ormond  knew  that  to  hold  out  any  longer  for  the 
king  would  be  futile.  He  therefore  gave  surrender  of 
Dublin  up  to  the  friends  of  Parliament,  i^^^""- 
and  took  refuge  in  France.  The  parliamentary 
forces  promptly  took  the  field  to  suppress  the  rebel- 
lion. Preston  was  defeated  with  a  heavy  loss  at 
Dungan  Hill,  and  soon  after  the  Irish  forces  were 
again  badly  beaten  at  Mallow.  The  cause  of  the 
rebellion  was  fast  losing  ground. 

The    moderate,  or  Anglo-Irish,   party  once   more 
made  terms  with  the  royalists,  and  turned  against 


l80  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

O'Neil  and  the  friends  of  Irish  independence.  The 
royal  cause  was  utterly  defeated  in  England.  It  was 
resolved  to  make  a  last  desperate  stand  for  the  king 
on  Irish  soil.  Ormond  returned  from  France  ;  and 
prince  Rupert,  the  king's  nephew,  arrived  at  the 
port  of  Kinsale  with  sixteen  men-of-war.  A  treaty 
of  peace  was  concluded  between  the  royalists  and 
the  Anglo-Irish  under  Preston  (1649).  Soon  after 
the  news  that  Charles  had  been  beheaded  reached 
Ireland.  Ormond  at  once  proclaimed  the  young 
Three  Irish  king  as  Charlcs  the  Second.  Three  par- 
parties.  ^jgg  ^^^  Contended  for  the  upper  hand  in 

Ireland,  —  the  champions  of  Irish  freedom  under 
O'Neil,  the  parliamentary  or  Puritan  party,  and  the 
royalists  allied  with  the  Anglo-Irish.  The  latter 
party  was  also  joined  by  the  Ulster  Scots,  who  were 
Presbyterians  ;  for  the  Presbyterians  in  Scotland  and 
England  had  now  quarrelled  with  the  Puritans.  At 
first  the  fortunes  of  war  leaned  to  the  side  of  the 
royalists  and  their  confederates.  Inchiquin  took 
Drogheda,  and  Ormond  laid  siege  to  Dublin.  It 
looked  very  much  as  if  the  Puritans  would  soon  lose 
altogether  their  hold  on  Ireland. 

At  this  serious  moment,  the  English  Parliament 
resolved  that  a  most  vigorous  effort  should  be  made, 
without  delay,  to  crush  out  the  Irish  revolt.  With 
this  end  in  view,  the  most  famous  and  most  victorious 
Oliver  general  of  the  parliamentary  armies,  Oliver 

Cromwell.  Cromwell,  was  chosen  lord-lieutenant  and 
general-in-chief   of   the    English    troops    in    Ireland. 


Cromwell's  iron  hand.  i8i 

Cromwell  had  at  his  disposal  a  remarkable  army. 
He  had  organized  the  parliamentary  troops  into  one 
of  the  most  effective  military  forces  which  had  ever 
fought  in  Europe.  With  his  sturdy  ''  Ironsides,"  as 
they  were  called,  he  had  marched  from  triumph  to 
triumph,  and  had  finally  crushed  the  royal  power  at 
the  battle  of  Naseby.  It  was  the  best  portion  of 
this  formidable  army  which  he  now  led  to  Ireland. 
The  Ironsides  were  deeply  religious,  as  well  as  heroic 
in  battle  ;  and  Cromwell  proposed  not  only  to  con- 
quer, but  to  convert,  the  Irish.  He  carried  the  Bible 
in  one  hand,  the  sword  in  the  other.  With  him  went 
his  stern  son-in-law  Ireton,  his  indolent  son  Henry, 
and  the  fanatical  Puritan  Ludlow. 

Cromwell  entered  Dublin  at  the  head  of  twelve 
thousand  Ironsides.  They  were  well  equipped  and 
well  provisioned,  and  were  supplied  with  ^^^  „  ^^^^ 
Bibles,  as  well  as  with  the  deadly  weapons  sides"  in 
of  war.  The  royalists  still  held  the  strong- 
hold of  Drogheda,  and  Cromwell's  first  blow  was 
struck  at  that  place.  Drogheda  soon  fell  beneath 
the  irresistible  attack  of  the  Ironsides.  Cromwell 
had  promised  the  garrison  their  lives  ;  but  no  sooner 
did  he  find  himself  in  possession  of  the  town,  than 
he  put  to  the  sword,  not  the  garrison  alone,  but  the 
inhabitants,  even  to  the  women  and  children.  Five 
days  were  spent  in  this  cruel  and  hideous  massacre. 
It  was  by  such  barbarous  meth'ods  that  Cromwell 
resolved  to  stamp  out  rebellion  in  Ireland.  The 
frightful  carnage  of   Drogheda  was  soon  succeeded 


1 82         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

by  similar  scenes  at  Wexford.     The  castle  of  Wex- 
ford was  betrayed  into  Cromwell's  hands  ;  the  guns 
of  the  fortifications  were  turned  upon  the 

The  mas-  ^ 

sacre  of  dcvotcd  towu ;  the  garrison  was  merci- 
wexford.  lessly  slaughtered  in  the  streets  ;  some 
of  the  townspeople,  who  tried  to  escape  in  boats, 
were  drowned ;  and  Wexford  was  given  up  to  merci- 
less pillage  and  outrage.  It  is  said  that  two  thou- 
sand of  the  garrison  fell  victims  to  the  fury  of  the 
Ironsides. 

The  gallant  Red  Owen  was  now  dead.  The  two 
Irish  parties,  which  had  joined  to  resist  the  English, 
had  been  rent  asunder.  The  almost  unparalleled 
atrocities  of  Cromwell  created  a  wild  panic  of  dread 
throughout  Ireland.  As  the  grim  leader  of  the  Iron- 
sides advanced  through  the  country,  the  strongholds 
of  the  patriots  and  royalists  fell  easily  into  his  hands. 
Cromwell,  with  all  his  cruelty,  was  strictly  honest  in 
his  dealings.  He  paid  for  the  supplies  which  the 
country  folk  brought  to  him,  and  thus  his  army  was 
well  fed  and  well  clothed  wherever  it  marched. 
Within  a  year  he  had  dealt  a  death-blow  at  the  re- 
-,         ,   ,    sistance   of   the   Irish.      He   returned    to 

Conquest  of 

Ireland  by  England  to  fight  the  Scots,  leaving  his 
romwe  .  ^^^  Hcury  as  lord-lieutenant,  and  Ireton 
as  commanding-general.  The  last  stand  made  by 
the  baffled  and  defeated  Irish  was  in  the  western 
part  of  the  island.  There  they  still  held  out  obsti- 
nately. Ireton,  like  Cromwell,  was  cruel  and  pitiless. 
Murder  and  desolation  attended  his  every  triumph. 


Cromwell's  iron  hand.  183 

At  last,  with  the  fall  of  Galway  (1652),  the  ten-years' 
revolt  came  to  an  end,  and  all  Ireland  lay  once  more 
bound  hand  and  foot  at  England's  feet. 

Cromwell  resolved  to  make  the  most  of  his  con- 
quest of  the  subject  island.  He  proposed  to  reap 
the  full  fruits  of  his  victory.  He  was  determined 
that  the  Irish  should  never  have  a  chance  to  rise 
again.  At  first,  he  even  considered  a  plan  for  sweep- 
ing the  entire  Irish  race  from  the  face  of  the  earth, 
and  to  re-people  the  island  entirely  with  English  and 
Scots.  But  this  seemed,  even  to  his  grim  soul,  too 
barbarous  a  remedy.  The  measures  which  he  did 
take  were  stern  and  severe.  Phelim  O'Neil,  Lord 
Mayo,  and  other  leaders  of  the  revolt  were   ^ 

■'  Execution  of 

executed.  At  the  same  time  a  vast  scheme  the  insh 
of  removing  nearly  the  whole  body  of  the 
Irish  from  the  fruitful  provinces  of  Ulster,  Leinster, 
and  Munster,  into  the  inclement  and  far  less  fertile 
province  of  Connaught,  was  vigorously  carried  out. 
Not  only  the  common  people  were  thus  transferred, 
but  the  lords,  land-owners,  and  men  of  good  family ; 
not  only  the  native  Irish,  but  the  Anglo-Irish  also. 
Pieces  of  land  in  Connaught  were  given  to  the  exiles. 
A  date  was  fixed,  before  which  every  family  must 
remove  from  its  home,  and  repair  to  the  place  allotted 
to  it  in  Connaught.  It  was  decreed  that  the  men 
should  precede  their  families  to  their  new  and  dismal 
homes ;  and,  when  they  had  built  huts  for  them,  the 
old  men,  women,  children,  cattle,  and  household 
goods  were  to  follow. 


184         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

Those  of  the  Irish  who  failed  to  obey  these  harsh 
decrees  were  condemned  to  be  executed.  Not  only 
this.  They  were  forbidden  to  go  into  the  city  of 
Galway,  or  to  approach  within  four  miles  of  the  sea 
on  one  side,  or  within  two  miles  of  the  river  Shannon 
„.    ,  .  .        on    the    other,    on    pain    of    death.      The 

The  Irish  '  i 

expelled  to  wrctchcd,  dcsolatc  regions  of  Connaught 
onnaug  .  ^^^j.^  soon  swamiiug  with  the  Irish,  suffer- 
ing and  sometimes  dying  of  cold  and  hunger.  They 
found  it  no  easy  task  even  to  get  possession  of  the 
lands  which  had  been  allotted  to  them.  It  was  only, 
often,  by  paying  money  to  Cromwell's  soldiers,  that 
they  were  allowed  to  occupy  their  miserable  patches. 
Then,  in  the  spring  (1654),  one  of  the  saddest  spec- 
tacles ever  seen  on  earth  was  witnessed  in  Ireland. 
Long  trains  of  old  men,  invalids,  women,  children, 
ill-clad  and  gaunt  with  hunger,  trudged  wearily  west- 
ward along  the  muddy  roads,  amid  storms  of  rain 
and  hail.  Whole  communities  of  the  Irish  thus 
abandoned  their  ancient  homes,  and  reached  their 
Terrible  ^cw  abodcs  to  Hvc  in  drcadful  want  upon 

sufferings.  almost  barren  lands,  or  to  die,  as  very 
many  did,  of  unendurable  hardships.  The  three 
provinces  of  Ulster,  Munster,  and  Leinster  were  all 
but  stripped  of  their  Irish  and  Anglo-Irish  popula- 
tion ;  and  the  Irish  race  was  pent  up,  as  in  a  huge 
prison,  between  the  Shannon  and  the  ocean. 

Meanwhile,  the  soldiers  who  had  taken  part,  either 
as  patriots  or  under  the  royalist  banners,  were  rigor- 
ously dealt  with.     The  higher  officers  were  sent  into 


oo 


ti 

C 

c 
o 

U 


X 


Cromwell's  iron  hand.  185 

exile,  and  deprived  of  two-thirds  of  their  property. 
The  lesser  officers  and  soldiers  were  forced  to  give 
up  what  lands  they  had,  and  to  accept  far  less  fertile 
lands  in  Connaught.  Many  of  the  soldiers  resorted 
to  the  bogs  and  woods,  where  they  became  outlaws 
and  robbers.  These  were  called ''Tories,"  The 
which  meant  in  Irish,  "freebooters;"  and  "Tories." 
this  is  the  origin  of  the  English  word  "Tory."  But 
by  far  the  greater  number  of  the  Irish  soldiers  went 
to  the  continent,  where  they  enlisted  in  the  French 
or  Spanish  army.  It  is  said  that  more  than  forty 
thousand  took  this  course.  Meanwhile,  an  atrocious 
act  was  committed  by  Cromwell's  agents.  Seven 
thousand  Irish  women  and  children  were  seized,  put 
on  board  ships,  and  sent  to  the  West  Indies.  The 
boys  were  sold  as  slaves  to  the  West-Indian  planters, 
and  the  women  and  girls  were  destined  to  even  a 
baser  and  more  cruel  end.  Thus  the  way  was  pre- 
pared for  a  new  plantation  of  Ireland  by  English 
colonists. 


1 86         YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 
Cromwell's  settlement  of  Ireland. 

CROMWELL  and  his  agents  did  their  cruel  work 
in  Ireland  thoroughly.  Not  only  were  the 
country  districts  of  the  three  fertile  provinces  cleared 
of  their  inhabitants,  but  the  fortified  and  sea-coast 
towns  were  treated  in  the  same  way.  The  once  pros- 
perous, thriving  ports  ceased  to  be  busy  with  trade, 
or  crowded  with  shipping.  The  Irish  mer- 
irish  trade  chauts  of  Cork,  Watcrford,  Galway,  and 
^°*^  other   sea-coast    towns,   abandoned   them, 

commerce.  .  , 

and  transferred  their  busmess  to  foreign 
countries.  The  emporiums  of  Kilkenny  and  Tip- 
perary  were  deserted,  and  the  market-towns  of  the 
interior  were  silent  and  desolate.  All  was  now  ready 
to  replant  the  provinces  with  new  settlers,  and  so,  if 
possible,  to  make  an  English  country  of  Ireland. 
Surveyors  were  sent  through  the  provinces  to  make 
measurements  of  the  deserted  domains.  Agents 
visited  them  to  decide  upon  their  value,  put  a  price 
on  them,  and  divide  them  off  into  new  allotments. 
All  the  towns,  certain  of  the  church  domains,  and  the 
four  counties  of  Dublin,  Cork,  Carlow,  and  Kildare, 


Cromwell's  settlement  of  Ireland.       187 

were  set  off,  to  be  held  for  the  benefit  of  the  gov- 
ernment.    The   rest   was    disposed    of   to  The  "ad- 
new  English  settlers ;  some  of  whom  were  venturers." 
now  called,  not  as  formerly,  undertakers,  but,  from 
their  having   lent    or  "adventured"    money  to  the 
king,  "adventurers." 

There  were  two  classes  of  men  to  whom  Cromwell 
felt  himself  indebted.  He  had  received  large  ad- 
vances of  money,  and  the  adventurers  who  had  thus 
become  his  creditors  demanded  liberal  grants  of 
Irish  land  in  payment.  But  still  more  was  Cromwell 
indebted  to  his  soldiers,  who  had  not  only  completed 
for  him  the  conquest  of  Ireland,  but  had  not  received 
their  pay.  It  was  with  the  grim  Iron- 
sides, mainly,  that  he  resolved  to  plant  the  planted  by 
island.     To  the  adventurers,  who  had  ad-  *^®  ^*"°"- 

sides 

vanced  some  ^360,000,  were  given  up  the 
halves  of  ten  counties  in  Ulster,  Leinster,  and  Mun- 
ster ;  while  the  arrears  of  the  soldiers'  pay,  amount- 
ing to  ;£ 1, 500,000,  were  satisfied  by  the  other  halves 
of  these  counties,  and  eight  other  counties  in  addi- 
tion. The  land  was  divided  up  into  parcels ;  and  the 
regiments,  one  after  another,  drew  lots  for  the  choice 
of  location.  Then  the  men  of  the  regiments  again 
drew  lots,  to  see  which  should  have  the  privilege  of 
selecting  his  own  plot  in  the  district  devoted  to  his 
regiment.  After  the  lands  had  thus  been  divided 
off,  each  regiment  was  marched  upon  its  domains 
and  disbanded  ;  and  the  men  took  possession,  one  by 
one,  of  their  pieces  of  land. 


1 88         YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 

It  took  several  years  to  complete  this  new  settle- 
ment of  Ireland.  ^Meanwhile  many  of  the  soldiers 
to  whom  lots  were  given  were  glad  to  sell  them  out 
for  small  sums,  either  to  their  officers,  who  desired 
larger  estates,  or  to  the  land-brokers  who  soon 
swarmed  through  the  country.  When  Cromwell's 
plan  had  been  fully  carried  out,  the  land  of  Ireland 
Division  of  '^vas  found  to  bc  divided  up  as  follows.  In 
Irish  land.  ^\\^  there  were  about  ten  millions  of  Irish 
acres  in  the  island.  Of  these,  the  native  Irish  oc- 
cupied about  three  millions,  for  the  most  part  in  the 
unfruitful  province  of  Connaught.  The  Protestant 
church  held  about  three  hundred  thousand  acres. 
The  planters,  establisht'd  by  Elizabeth  and  James, 
had  some  two  millions  of  acres  ;  and  over  five  mil- 
lions of  acres  —  at  least  one-half  the  island  —  had 
been  seized  by  Cromwell,  and  handed  over  to  his  ad- 
herents. But  the  new  settlers  were  not  to  be  allowed 
to  till  their  just-acquired  possessions  in  any  greater 
peace  than  the  old  settlers.  Many  of  the  ousted 
Irish,  some  of  whom  were  of  good  family  and  had 
been  even  rich  and  titled,  refused  to  leave  their 
native  neighborhood,  and  began  to  lead  a  wild  life 
in  the  woods  and  bogs.  These  Tories  did  not  let 
Raids  of  the  the  intruders  rest.  They  made  raids 
Tones.  upou  the  fields,  and  destroyed  the  ripen- 

ing grain  and  potatoes.  They  seized  and  drove  away 
the  cattle,  sheep,  and  pigs.  In  many  places,  the 
settlers  were  tormented  out  of  their  wits  by  these 
hardy  outlaws. 


Cromwell's  settlement  of  Ireland.       189 

Nor  were  the  Irish  outlaws  the  only  enemies  of 
the  settlers.  Large  numbers  of  Catholic  priests  still 
infested  the  country,  though  they  were  all  under 
sentence  of  banishment.  They  were  resolved  at  all 
hazards  to  keep  alive  their  religion  among  the  perse- 
cuted race  ;  and,  always  in  danger  of  death  itself, 
they  led  their  pious  services  in  whatever  out-of-the- 
way  place  they  could  secretly  gather  their  ^^ 
poverty-stricken  flocks  together.  They  schbed 
were  mercilessly  hunted  down  ;  and,  when  p*^'^^^*- 
they  were  arrested,  they  were  forthwith  sent  beyond 
seas,  or  put  to  death  without  so  much  as  a  trial. 
Another  plague  which  worried  the  settlers  was  the 
wolves,  which  continually  prowled  about  the  settle- 
ments, devoured  the  sheep,  and  endangered  the  lives 
of  the  farmers.  "We  have  now  three  burdensome 
beasts  to  destroy,"  said  one  who  lived  at  that  time  ; 
*' the  first  is  a  wolf,  the  second  a  priest,  and  the  third 
a  Tory."  A  price  was  set  upon  the  head  of  each  of 
these  **  burdensome  beasts."  The  head  of  a  priest 
or  a  wolf  was  worth  five  pounds,  while  that  of  a  Tory 
was  worth  twenty  pounds. 

But  after  all  these  pains  had  been  taken  to  subdue 
and  suppress  the  Irish  race,  Cromwell's  vast  and 
harsh  project  was  far  from  being  completely  success- 
ful. The  national  spirit  of  the  Irish  still  resisted  ex- 
termination. In  no  long  time,  the  same  process  of 
the  absorption  of  the  intruding  race  by  the  native 
race  which  had  always  taken  place  before,  again  oc- 
curred.    The  settled  English  soldiers,  though  forbid- 


IQO         YOUNG   people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

den,  under  heavy  penalties,  to  mingle  and  connect 
themselves  with  the  native  Irish,  began  to  have  deal- 
ings with  them,  to  accept  Irishmen  as  tenants,  ser- 
vants, and  laborers,  and  to  marry  Irish  girls.  It  is 
Fusion  of  said  that,  within  forty  years  after  Crom- 
the  races.  wcll's  plantation  of  the  three  provinces, 
many  children  of  the  settlers  could  not  speak  a  word 
of  English  ;  that  all  of  their  habits,  traits,  and  sympa- 
thies were  entirely  Irish.  Here  and  there  the  native 
Irish  and  the  Anglo-Irish  got  back,  by  marriage  or 
purchase,  estates  in  the  districts  from  which  their 
fathers  had  been  expelled.  Thus  it  was  that  even 
the  stern  Ironsides  became  more  and  more  Irish  as 
years  passed. 

The  restoration  of  the  English  monarchy  in  the 
person  of  Charles  the  Second  (1660)  aroused  the 
Restoration  ^^P^^  of  two  of  the  opprcsscd  classcs  in 
of  Charles  Ireland.  The  royalists,  who  had  stood 
stoutly  by  Charles  the  First,  and  who  had 
suffered  persecution,  the  seizure  of  their  lands,  and 
exile  at  the  hands  of  Cromwell  and  his  Puritan 
agents,  hoped  that  the  new  king  would  reward  them 
for  their  loyalty.  They  expected  to  get  back  their 
estates,  and  to  be  restored  to  their  old  power  in 
Ireland.  The  Roman  Catholic  Irish,  moreover,  had 
learned  that  Charles  the  Second  was  favorably  in- 
clined to  the  members  of  their  faith.  They,  too, 
looked  forward  to  being  protected  in  the  exercise  of 
their  religion,  and  to  having  their  lands  given  back 
to  them.     So  confident,  indeed,  were  the  persecuted 


CROMWELL  S    SETTLEMENT    OF    IRELAND.  I9I 

Irish  of  the  royal  favor,  that  as  soon  as  they  heard 
that  the  new  king  was  seated  on  his  throne,  some 
of  them  rashly  attempted  to  recover  their  lands  by 
force.  At  the  same  time  the  Catholics  besouo^ht 
Charles  to  return  their  estates  to  them,  agreeing  to 
pay  the  Cromwellian  settlers  a  certain  proportion  of 
the  rents  for  two  years.  But  both  the  royalists  and 
the  Catholics  were  doomed  to  bitter  disappointment. 

Charles  the  Second,  like  all  the  Stuart  kings  of 
England,  was  faithless,  and  could  not  be  trusted.  He 
disregarded  whatever  obligations  were  distasteful  to 
him,  or  were  contrary  to  what  he  thought  his  own 
interests.  He  now  resolved  to  conciliate,  as  far  as  he 
could,  his  father's  old  enemies,  and  to  leave  in  the 
lurch  his  father's  old  friends.  He  made  a  pretence, 
indeed,  of  doin^^  justice  to  the  Irish  who  ^^   ,    , 

'  o    J  Charles's 

had  been  harshly  and  illegally  deprived  of  treatment  of 
their  property.  He  caused  a  court  to  be 
established  in  Dublin  (1663),  to  which  all  who  claimed 
to  have  been  unlawfully  dispossessed  of  their  lands 
might  resort,  and  present  their  claims.  It  was  de- 
clared that  those  who  were  innocent  of  having  re- 
belled against  English  rule  should  have  their  estates 
restored  to  them.  The  Protestants  took  alarm  at 
this,  and  a  plot  was  soon  formed  to  seize  Dublin 
castle.  But  it  soon  turned  out  that  the  Protestants 
had  little  cause  for  alarm.  All  sorts  of  restrictions 
were  put  upon  the  new  court ;  and  every  kind  of  legal 
device  and  trickery  was  used  to  reduce  the  successful 
claimants  to  as  small  a  number  as  possible. 


192         YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

The  Irish  Parliament  had  met,  two  years  before, 
for  the  first  time  for  twenty  years.  The  House  of 
Commons  had  contained  a  large  majority  of  the 
Cromwellians,  and  a  measure  which  confirmed  the 
new  settlers  in  their  lands  had  been  passed.  Upon 
this  act  the  Cromwellians  rested  their  case.  There 
existed,  therefore,  a  bitter  conflict  between  the  law 
of  Parliament,  and  the  decisions  of  the  court  in 
Claims  to  favor  of  ''innocent  "  claimants.  So  grave 
Irish  land.  ^[^  ^^iQ  situation  bccomc,  that  the  king  at 
last  insisted  on  a  compromise.  The  Cromwellian 
settlers  gave  up  one-third  of  the  lands  which  they 
had  obtained  by  the  confiscations,  and  thus  much  was 
restored  to  the  royalists ;  and  the  court  which  had 
been  set  up  to  satisfy  the  claims  was  abolished.  But 
even  now,  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics  only  held  one- 
half  the  amount  of  land  which  they  had  held  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  ten  years'  rebellion.  They  still 
owned  but  one-third  of  the  island.  The  foreigner 
and  the  Protestant  still  held  the  other  two-thirds. 
Of  the  seven  millions  of  good,  or  "fat,"  acres  in 
Ireland,  the  Protestants  possessed  five  millions. 

One  of  Charles  the  Second's  first  acts  in  regard 
to  Ireland,  was  to  restore  to  its  old  power  the  Eng- 
The  Protes-  ^^^^  church.  The  Episcopal  bishops  and 
tant  Church  clcrgy  wcrc  rcstorcd  to  the  sees  and 
parishes,  and  the  Puritan  and  Presbyterian 
ministers  were  summarily  ejected.  In  many  cases, 
they  were  fined,  imprisoned,  and  banished  for  refus- 
ing  to  obey  the  new  "act  of  uniformity."     At  the 


CROMWELL  S    SETTLEMENT    OF    IRELAND.  I93 

same  time,  Charles  was  really  partial  to  the  Catholics, 
and  ordered  his  agents  in  Ireland  to  treat  them 
gently.  Under  such  protection,  the  priests  and 
monks,  who  had  been  driven  from  their  parishes,  and 
in  many  cases  from  the  island,  by  the  Cromwellians, 
began  to  appear  again,  to  hold  their  religious  ser- 
vices, and  to  establish  Catholic  schools.  The  Catho- 
lics, indeed,  now  enjoyed  a  larger  degree  of  freedom 
of  worship  than  they  had  had  for  fifty  years.  The 
Presbyterians  and  Puritans  in  Ireland  were  now  the 
only  sects  which  felt  the  repressive  hand  of  power. 


194         YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

THE  ORANGE  AND  THE  GREEN. 

JUST  as  the  Irish  CathoHcs  were  beginning  to 
enjoy  some  degree  of  toleration,  an  event  took 
place  in  England,  which  for  a  while  seemed  likely 
to  overwhelm  the  Catholics  of  both  countries  with 
disaster.  This  was  the  infamous  plot  of  Titus  Oates, 
Plot  of  Titus  who  pretended  to  have  discovered  a  Catho- 
oates.  ij^   conspiracy  to  kill  the  king,  the  duke 

of  York,  and  others,  and  to  seize  on  the  government 
(1678).  Oates  also  declared  that  this  conspiracy  ex- 
tended to  Ireland,  that  all  the  Protestants  in  Ireland 
were  to  be  massacred,  and  that  a  French  fleet  was 
about  to  arrive  in  Irish  ports.  The  whole  story  was 
afterwards  proved  to  be  an  atrocious  lie,  invented  by 
Oates.  But,  for  a  time,  it  aroused  an  intense  fear 
and  anger  among  the  English  Protestants  ;  and,  both 
in  England  and  in  Ireland,  the  Catholics  were  bitterly 
persecuted.  The  Irish  Catholics  were  disarmed  ;  all 
the  Catholic  bishops  and  priests  were  ordered  to  quit 
the  island  ;  heavy  penalties  were  threatened  against 
soldiers  who  attended  Catholic  services  ;  and  the 
Catholics  in  the  large  towns  were  compelled  to  go 
outside  the  walls. 


THE  ORANGE  AND  THE  GREEN.        I95 

But  after  a  while  the  panic  of  the  Protestants 
subsided.  It  was  found  that  Oates's  plot  was  a  fable, 
and  that  many  innocent  Catholics  had  suffered  death 
and  other  miseries  from  the  hasty  anger  of  the  people. 
Then  the  Irish  Catholics  returned  to  a  tolerable  state 
of  religious  freedom  ;  and  once  more  the  priests 
flocked  back,  to  say  mass,  and  dwell  among  their 
flocks.  The  death  of  Charles  the  Second  (1685)  "^^^ 
followed  by  the  accession  to  the  English  throne  of  a 
Roman  Catholic,  in  the  person  of  James  james  the 
the  Second.  James  was  the  first  avowed  Second. 
Catholic  who  had  sat  on  the  throne  since  queen  Mary. 
His  accession  was  therefore  hailed  with  joy  by  the 
Irish  Catholics,  although  time  soon  proved  that  it  was 
a  great  misfortune  to  them.  James  speedily  showed 
that  he  meant  to  establish  Catholic  ascendancy,  both 
in  England  and  Ireland.  Although  he  appointed  a 
Protestant,  lord  Clarendon,  lord-lieutenant  of  Ire- 
land, he  selected  a  violent  Catholic,  Richard  Talbot 
(who  is  better  known  in  history  by  his  title  of  earl 
of  Tyrconnel),  to  command  the  Irish  army. 

James  began  to  carry  out  his  plans  by  replacing 
Protestant  by  Catholic  officers  in  the  army.  Then, 
contrary   to    law,    he    appointed    Catholic   .        , 

-'  ^^  James  favors 

judges,  privy  councillors,  and  magistrates  ;   the  Irish 
and  the  charters  of   the  Irish  cities  and 
towns  were  so  altered  as  to  admit  Catholics  to  the 
offices  from  which  they  had  hitherto  been  excluded. 
The   Irish  Catholics   took  courage  from  these  acts. 
They  asked  the  king  to  abolish  the  "  act  of  settle- 


196         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

ment,"  under  which  the  Cromwellian  settlers  had 
been  confirmed  in  their  estates  ;  and  the  Irish 
Tories,  or  outlaws,  became  emboldened,  and  made 
savage  raids  upon  the  English  colonists,  murdering, 
burning,  and  pillaging  wherever  they  appeared.  The 
Irish  tenants  refused  to  pay  their  rents ;  and  through- 
out the  country  the  Protestants,  fearing  a  terrible 
retribution  for  the  wrongs  to  which  the  Irish  had 
been  long  subjected,  fled  for  safety  within  the  walled 
towns.  Clarendon,  the  Protestant  lord-lieutenant, 
was  recalled  ;  and  the  power  in  Ireland  was  given  to 
Tyrconnei  in  the  fauatical  Catholic,  Tyrconnel.  The 
Ireland.  Protcstauts  saw  that  worse  than  had  hap- 

pened was  yet  to  come  to  them.  Tyrconnel  was 
known  to  be  inveterately  hostile  to  them,  and  to  be 
sternly  bent  on  restoring  the  upper  hand  to  the 
Catholics.  They  therefore  fled  in  thousands  from 
Ireland,  and  it  seemed  certain  that  the  Catholics 
were  soon  to  become  all-powerful  there. 

But  events  in  England  now  put  an  entirely  different 
face  upon  the  affairs  of  both  islands.  James  had 
become  thoroughly  detested  by  the  enormous  major- 
ity of  his  English  subjects.  His  tyrannical  and 
illegal  acts  had  at  length  worn  out  the  loyalty,  even 
of  the  Tory  party,  who  had  always  before  stood  by 
him.  A  plot  was  formed  to  dethrone  him,  and  to 
place  William,  prince  of  Orange,  and  his  wife  Mary, 
The  English  daughter  of  James,  on  the  throne.  The 
revolution.  revolution  was  quickly  and  completely  ac- 
complished.    William  landed  in  England,  marched  to 


THE  ORANGE  AND  THE  GREEN.        IQ/ 

London  without  fighting  a  battle,  and  took  posses- 
sion of  the  throne  (1688).  James  fled  from  the  palace 
of  his  fathers,  seeking  refuge  in  France.  William 
was  the  champion  of  Protestantism  in  Europe,  and 
his  accession  carried  dismay  to  the  Catholics  through- 
out England  and  Ireland.  But  Tyrconnel  was  made 
of  stern  stuff,  and,  even  after  the  flight  of  James,  was 
not  ready  to  yield  Ireland  up  to  the  new  king  without 
a  struggle.  He  promptly  raised  a  voluntary  force  of 
nearly  one  hundred  thousand  Irish  Catholics,  and 
sent  word  to  James  that  he  proposed  to  hold  out  in 
his  favor.  Meanwhile  many  of  the  Protestants  in 
the  north  of  Ireland,  seeing  that  they  were  not 
strong  enough  to  meet  Tyrconnel  in  the  open  field, 
hastened  to  seek  safety  within  the  walled  strong- 
holds of  Londonderry  and  Enniskillen.  There  they 
awaited  their  fate  with  grim  and  determined  courage. 
The  exiled  James  resolved  to  fight  to  recover  his 
crown,  on  Irish  soil.  There  was  still  a  strong  party 
in  England  and  Scotland,  which  remained  loyal  to 
him.  He  thought  that  if  he  could  make  a  successful 
stand  in  Ireland,  his  friends  across  the  channel  might 
yet  rally,  and  drive  the  prince  of  Orange  from  the 
throne.  James  accordingly  set  sail  for  james  lands 
Ireland.  With  him  went  a  fleet  of  twenty-  *"  inland, 
three  vessels,  in  which  was  stored  a  large  quantity 
of  arms  and  ammunition,  and  which  carried  one  hun- 
dred French  officers  and  twelve  hundred  Irish  exiles, 
and  ;^i  12,000  in  money.  He  was  aided  and  encour- 
aged in  his  expedition  by  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  the 


198         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

French  king,  who,  as  the  Catholic  leader  in  Europe, 
was  the  mortal  enemy  of  William  of  Orange.  James, 
attended  by  his  two  illegitimate  sons,  the  duke  of 
Berwick  and  the  prior  Fitz  James,  landed  in  Kinsale 
harbor  (March  12,  1689),  and  advanced,  greeted 
along  his  route  by  the  fervid  enthusiasm  of  the 
Irish,  to  Cork  and  thence  to  Dublin.  As  soon  as  he 
reached  the  capital,  he  summoned  an  Irish  Parlia- 
ment, which  met  two  months  later. 

Both  the  Houses  of  this  Parliament  contained  an 
overwhelming  majority  of  Catholics,  and  two-thirds 
of  the  Commons  were  Anglo-Irish.     Such  a  Parlia- 
ment was    likely  to    support    Tames,  and 

James  sup-  ^ 

ported  by  the  also  to  take  carc  that  the  rights  of  Ireland 
Irish  Parha-    gj^Quld  bc  sccurcd  in  the  event  of  James's 

ment.  "^ 

return  to  the  English  throne.  The  law 
known  as  Poyning's  Act,  which  required  that  all 
Irish  measures  must  first  be  submitted  to  and  ap- 
proved by  the  English  council,  was  promptly  repealed. 
Religious  liberty  was  decreed.  Safeguards  for  Irish 
trade  were  adopted.  Above  all,  the  act  of  settlement, 
securing  the  Cromwellians  in  their  lands,  was  abol- 
ished ;  and  it  was  declared  that  all  Catholics  who  had 
been  land-owners  before  1641  should  recover  their 
estates.  Having  thus  satisfied  the  demands  made 
by  the  Irish,  Parliament  proceeded  to  make  a  grant 
of  ;£40,ooo  a  month  to  the  king,  with  which  to  carry 
on  his  war.  The  last  act  of  this  Parliament  was  to 
attaint  over  two  thousand  men  of  high  treason. 
These  were,  mostly,  men  who  had  either  left    Ire- 


THE  ORANGE  AND  THE  GREEN.        I99 

land,  or  had  gone  over  to  William  of  Orange. 
Meanwhile  the  struggle  between  the  Irish  adherents 
of  James,  and  those  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  was 
going  vigorously  on.  The  place  to  which  all  eyes 
were  turned  was  Londonderry,  where  the  Protestants 
were  holding  out  obstinately  against  their  assailants. 
James  himself  repaired  thither  with  some  siege  of  Lon. 
troops,  and  the  governor  of  Londonderry  ^onderry. 
decided  to  yield  up  the  town.  But  the  people  would 
not  permit  this.  They  deposed  the  governor  by 
force,  and  chose  a  clergyman  named  Walker  in  his 
place. 

Still,  the  siege  reduced  the  town  to  desperate 
straits  ;  and  it  would  have  surrendered,  had  not  aid 
from  England  opportunely  arrived  by  sea.  The 
siege  of  Londonderry  was  thus  raised,  and  the  Irish 
retreated  (July,  1689).  The  campaign  lingered  list- 
lessly through  the  autumn  and  winter.  General 
Schomberg,  a  distinguished  officer  devoted  to  Wil- 
liam, went  to  Ireland  with  four  thousand  men.  But  in 
both  camps  there  was  a  great  deal  of  misery.  The 
Irish  troops  were  ill-equipped,  ill-fed,  and  unaccus- 
tomed to  war ;  and  the  French  soldiers  did  not  get 
on  well  with  them.  On  the  other  hand,  the  English 
under  Schomberg  suffered  sorely  from  illness  con- 
tracted in  the  damp  regions  where  they 
were  encamped,  and  died  by  hundreds,  orange 
In  the  early  summer  (i6qo),  William    of  '"^^^^^s 

^  \       ^    /'  Ireland. 

Orange,  who  had  become  impatient  at  the 

lack  of  the  success  of  his  troops  in  Ireland,  landed 


200         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


at  Carrickfergus  with  a  disciplined  army  of  forty 
thousand  men.  Meanwhile  a  French  force  of  five 
thousand  men,  commanded  by  the  famous  Count 
de  Lauzun,  arrived  to  lend  aid  to  James.  It  was 
evident  that  the  fate  of  one  English  king  or  the 
other  must  soon  be  decided  once  for  all  on  Irish 
soil. 


to 


a 
o 


o 

■)-> 

H 


THE    TREATY    OF    LIMERICK.  20 T 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

THE    TREATY    OF    LIMERICK. 

WILLIAM  of  Orange,  with  his  large  and  well- 
appointed  army,  marched  promptly  southward 
to  confront  his  rival.  The  hostile  forces  met  on  the 
banks  of  the  river  Boyne.  William's  force,  Resides 
being  far  better  trained  and  equipped,  was  also 
somewhat  larger  than  that  of  James.  Thirty-six 
thousand  soldiers,  comprising  men  of  sev-  Battle  of  the 
eral  nations,  fought  under  William  for  what  ^°y"e. 
was  regarded  as  the  Protestant  cause ;  while  thirty 
thousand  Irish  and  French  supported  the  exiled  Stu- 
art. William,  moreover,  had  forty  cannon,  while 
James  had  only  twelve.  On  the  other  hand,  James 
held  the  southern  bank  of  the  Boyne,  and  William 
was  forced  to  lead  his  men  across  the  river  in  the 
face  of  the  Irish  fire.  The  struggle  was  desperate 
and  prolonged.  The  Irish  fought  with  lion-like  valor 
against  superior  odds.  William  himself  most  gal- 
lantly advanced  into  the  river  at  the  head  of  his  men, 
while  James  witnessed  the  struggle  fromi  a  safe  dis- 
tance. Although  wounded,  the  new  English  king 
remained,  throughout  the  battle,  in  the  front  of  his 


202         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

forces.  At  last  the  Irish  gave  way,  retreating  by 
steady  ranks.  But  the  cowardly  James,  as  soon  as 
he  saw  that  the  battle  had  gone  against  him,  hastily 
deserted  his  faithful  soldiers,  galloped  off  to  Dublin, 
and  was  the  first  of  the  fugitives  to  enter  its  walls. 
The  next  morning  he  took  ship  for  France  (1690). 

The  battle  of  the  Boyne  decided  the  fate  of  Ire- 
land. It  was  the  turning-point  in  the  bitter  struggle 
between  the  Irish  and  their  foreign  masters ;  between 
the  Irish  Catholics  and  Protestants  ;  and  between 
William  of  Orange  and  James  the  Second  for  the 
possession  of  the  English  throne.  But,  while  it  made 
the  contest  a  hopeless  one  for  the  Irish,  it  did  not 
bring  the  war  to  an  immediate  end.  Under  the 
sarsfieid's  valiaut  and  fervent  Sarsfield,  the  Irish 
valor.  continued    a   desperate,  though   hopeless, 

resistance.  After  the  battle  of  the  Boyne,  Drogheda 
and  Dublin  fell  into  William's  hands ;  but  the  Irish 
retired  to  the  strongholds  of  Connaught  and  Mun- 
ster,  resolved  to  make  an  obstinate  stand.  Sarsfield, 
though  now  deserted  by  a  large  portion  of  his  French 
allies,  took  up  his  position,  with  ten  thousand  Irish, 
at  Limerick.  William  of  Orange  arrived  before  the 
town,  and  laid  siege  to  it.  Sarsfield,  by  a  daring 
manoeuvre,  intercepted  and  destroyed  William's  siege 
train.  Then  the  English  made  a  furious  assault 
upon  the  town,  and  even  entered  at  a  breach  they 
had  made  in  its  walls.  But  they  were  met  with  such 
sturdy  bravery  by  its  Irish  defenders,  that  William, 
after  a  hot  struggle  of  four  days,  was  compelled  to 


THE    TREATY    OF    LIMERICK.  2O3 

fall  back  defeated,  and  to  give  up  taking  Limerick 
until  the  following  year. 

The  next  stand  of  the  Irish  was  made  at  Aughrim 
in  the  middle  of  the  following  summer  (July,  1691). 
They  were  under  the  command  of  a  French  general, 
St.  Ruth  ;  and  seemed  on  the  point  of  winning  a  com- 
plete victory  when  St.  Ruth  was  killed.  This  fatality 
deprived  the  Irish  of  their  confidence,  and  they  were 
driven  from  the  field.  Limerick  and  Galway  now 
alone  held  out.  Galway  yielded  to  the  English  after 
the  defeat  at  Aughrim,  and  the  Irish  garrison 
marched  away  to  join  their  comrades  at  Limerick. 
Limerick  was  speedily  again  invested  by  the  English 
troops.  The  only  hope  remaining  to  the  Irish  was 
that  a  French  fleet  with  re-enforcements,  which  had 
been  promised,  would  arrive  in  time  to  raise  the 
siege.  While  they  were  anxiously  awaiting  this 
hoped-for  succor,  the  besiegers  captured  the  island 
upon  which  a  part  of  Limerick  stands.  The  brave 
Sarsfield  was  so  discouraged  by  this  event,  that  he 
resolved  to  come  to  terms  with  the  enemy.  Ginkel, 
the  English  general,  agreed  to  a  truce  of  Negotiations 
three  days.  This  period  was  occupied  by  ^°*'  p^^ce. 
negotiations  for  concluding  a  peace.  Both  sides  were 
anxious  that  the  war  should  come  to  a  close.  The 
Irish  were  nearly  at  the  end  of  their  resources,  and 
had  given  up  hope  of  the  French  fleet.  King  William 
was  eager  to  withdraw  his  troops  from  Ireland,  and 
to  use  them  in  his  contest  with  France.  The  result 
of  the  negotiations  was  the  treaty  of  Limerick. 


204         YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

By  this  famous  treaty,  concessions  were  made  on 
both  sides.  King  William  agreed  that  the  Catholics 
should  have  freedom  of  worship,  and  that  an  Irish 
Parliament  should  be  called  together  to  secure  them 
in  that  freedom.  He  granted  pardon  to  those  who 
had  defended  the  cause  of  James,  on  condition  that 
they  should  take  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  William  and 
Mary.  Catholics  were  relieved  from  taking  the  oath 
The  treaty  of  suprcmacy  ;  that  is,  the  oath  acknowl- 
of  Limerick,  edging  William  and  Mary  as  the  supreme 
heads  of  the  church.  They  were  also  allowed  to  keep 
the  estates  which  they  now  held,  to  pursue  such 
avocations  as  they  pleased,  and  to  carry  arms.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Cromwellian  colonists  were  con- 
firmed in  the  possession  of  the  estates  they  held  at 
the  time  of  the  treaty.  As  for  the  Irish  army,  it  was 
agreed  that  the  soldiers  should  be  permitted  to  choose 
between  enlisting  in  William's  service,  and  going 
abroad  and  entering  the  armies  of  foreign  powers. 

Scarcely  was  the  ink  dry  on  this  treaty,  when  the 
French  fleet,  which  the  Irish  had  so  anxiously 
awaited,  showed  its  sails  in  the  river  Shannon.  On 
board  the  fleet  were  three  thousand  soldiers  and  ten 
thousand  muskets,  with  stores  and  ammunition.  But 
Sarsfield  was  the  soul  of  honor.  He  had  signed  the 
treaty,  and  it  was  too  late  to  honorably  retreat.  He 
might  now  have  turned  round  and,  with  the  newly  ar- 
rived Frenchmen,  have  defied  Ginkel  and  the  English. 
But  he  resisted  the  temptation,  and  stood  manfully 
by  his  word.     And  now  the  Irish  soldiers  were  called 


THE   TREATY    OF    LIMERICK.  20$ 

upon  to  make  their  choice  between  the  English  army 
and  exile.     They  were  drawn  up  outside  Destjoatjon 
Limerick;   in  all,  twenty-three  thousand,  of  Irish  soi- 
A  certain  point  was  designated,  and  the 
battalions   were    marched    towards    it.      Those   who 
preferred  William's  service  turned  off  as  they  reached 
the  point ;  those  who  wished  to  go  abroad  marched 
straight    on.     Almost    three  thousand  turned  aside 
to  join  the  English  army;   the  other  twenty  thou- 
sand, by  marching  forward,  declared  for  exile. 

In  no  lonsf  time  these  self-banished  Irish  soldiers 
were  put  on  board  ships  and  carried  to  France.  The 
greater  part  of  them  enlisted  in  the  French  army, 
and  w^ere  followed  into  the  French  ranks,  from  time 
to  time,  by  others  of  their  compatriots.  In  many  a 
hard-fought  battle  afterwards,  often  against  the  Eng- 
lish, the  Irish  legions  fought  under  the  French  ban- 
ners with  heroic  bravery.  A  great  deal  of  Ireland's 
best  blood  had  thus  left  the  island.  The  Irish  who 
remained  were  soon  destined  to  be  rudely  awakened 
from  their  dream  of  peace  and  liberty.  The  treaty 
The  treaty  of  Limerick  was  treated  by  the  ^^°^^°- 
English  as  if  it  did  not  exist.  Many  of  its  articles 
were  perfidiously  violated.  The  agreement  to  allow 
the  Catholics  freedom  of  worship  was  broken,  by  the 
imposition  on  members  of  Parliament  of  an  oath, 
which  compelled  them  to  deny  some  of  the  most  vital 
articles  of  their  creed.  So  it  was  that  Catholics  were 
excluded  from  the  Irish  Parliament.  Then  an  attack 
was  once  more  made  upon  the  lands  still  held  by  the 


206  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

Catholic  Irish.  More  than  a  million  Irish  acres  were 
confiscated,  and  were  made  over  to  the  crown.  A 
fourth  part  of  this  land,  indeed,  was  restored  by 
William  to  the  Irish  owners.  A  large  portion  of  the 
rest  he  distributed  to  his  friends  and  favorites. 

But  the  Irish  owners  were  not  to  be  allowed  to 
hold  in  peace  the  small  amounts  of  land  which 
William  returned  to  them.  The  English  Parliament 
passed  a  law  by  which  the  restored  estates  were 
Fresh  con-  again  coufiscatcd,  and  were  sold  at  auction  ; 
fiscations.  ^^iQ  moucy  paid  for  them  being  added  to 
the  English  treasury.  Thus  the  Catholic  owners,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  century,  though  they  still  com- 
prised nearly  five-sixths  of  the  population  of  Ireland, 
held  less  than  one-seventh  of  the  land.  At  this 
period,  too,  the  condition  of  Ireland  was,  in  some  re- 
spects, as  wretched  and  hopeless  as  it  had  ever  been. 
In  many  parts  of  the  country  the  planting  of  the 
land  had  been  given  up,  and  the  people  had  resorted 
to  the  raising  of  cows,  sheep,  and  pigs.  Thus  the 
population  had  become  less  industrious  and  thrifty. 
The  importation  of  cattle  from  Ireland  into  England 
had  then  been  forbidden,  and  this  had  reduced  a  large 
portion  of  the  people  to  dire  poverty.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  linen  and  woollen  industries  had  been  en- 
couraged in  Ireland,  and  had  given  prosperity  to 
some  of  the  larger  towns. 

The  wars  had  spread  desolation  far  and  wide 
through  the  country.  Base  coin  had  been  forced 
by  king  James  upon  the  Irish.     The   Tory  outlaws 


THE  TREATY  OF  LIMERICK.  207 

continued  their  depredations  upon  the  Enghsh  settle- 
ments. The  cattle  of  the  English  were  mutilated, 
their  barns  were  burned,  and  their  houses  were  plun- 
dered.  Still,  the  Protestants  in  Ireland  were  now 
supported  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  crown.  The  Irish 
The  Irish  Parliament  was  comprised  solely  Parliament, 
of  Protestants,  and  was  in  all  things  submissive  to 
English  power.  All  the  officials  in  Ireland  were 
Protestants.  The  Protestants,  moreover,  held  six- 
sevenths  of  the  Irish  soil.  But  even  these  safe- 
guards of  Protestant  ascendancy  did  not  satisfy  the 
English  masters  of  Ireland.  It  once  more  appeared 
to  be  the  resolute  purpose  of  the  English  to  suppress 
altogether  the  Catholic  religion,  and  to  deprive  the 
Catholic  Irish  entirely  of  the  land.  This  purpose 
was  revealed  in  the  infamous  "Penal  Laws,"  which 
were  now  sternly  imposed  upon  the  unhappy  race. 


208         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

THE    PENAL    LAWS. 

DURING  the  reigns  of  William  the  Third  and 
Anne,  a  number  of  very  cruel  laws  were  passed, 
which  were  gross  violations  of  the  treaty  of  Lim- 
erick, and  which  bore  with  terrible  severity  upon  the 
Irish,  and  especially  upon  the  Irish  Catholics.  These 
are  famous,  or  rather  infamous,  in  history  as  the 
^*  Penal  Laws."  Their  purpose  was  to  reduce  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland  to  perpetual  helplessness  and 
ignorance.  It  was  intended  by  these  means  to  put 
and  hold  the  Irish  under  complete  subjection.  The 
penal  laws  must  be  briefly  described,  for  many  of 
the  miseries  which  Ireland  has  suffered  since  may  be 
traced  back  to  them.  They  were  passed,  partly  by 
the  English  Parliament,  and  partly  by  the  Irish 
Parliament,  the  latter  body  being  composed  entirely 
of  Protestants,  and  being  completely  devoted  to  the 
The  oaths  intcrcsts  of  the  English  crown.  First, 
required.  ^j^g  oaths  of  allcgiancc  to  England,  and  of 
*' abjuration,"  were  required,  not  only  of  all  the  Irish 
bishops,  but  of  every  member  of  Parliament,  every 
man  who  held  a  civil  or  military  post,  every  officer 


THE    PENAL    LAWS.  2O9 

or  instructor  of  the  university  of  Dublin,  every 
schoolmaster,  every  professor,  and  every  lawyer. 
The  oath  of  abjuration  practically  rejected  the  creed 
of  the  Catholic  church,  and  hence  could  not  be 
taken  by  any  true  Catholic.  All  Catholics,  there- 
fore, were  excluded  from  the  avocations  which  have 
been  named. 

Heavy  penalties  followed  the  breaking  of  these 
laws.  A  Catholic  who  dared  to  keep  a  school,  even 
in  a  private  house,  was  condemned  to  a  heavy  fine, 
or  to  be  imprisoned  for  three  months.  No  Catholic 
could  send  his  child  abroad  to  be  educated.  If  he 
did,  he  was  condemned  to  forfeit  all  his  worldly 
goods.  Any  man,  by  informing  the  authorities  of 
the  breaking  of  this  law,  was  entitled  to  receive  half 
the  property  taken  from  the  man  who  broke  it.  The 
accused  man  was  not  supposed  to  be  innocent  until 
he  was  found  guilty,  but  was  obliged  to  prove  his 
innocence.  All  Catholic  bishops,  monks.  The  priests 
friars,  and  priests,  except  three  thousand  Vanished, 
priests  who  were  "registered,"  and  thus  allowed  to 
perform  their  sacred  functions,  were  banished  from 
Ireland.  If  any  who  were  thus  banished  returned, 
they  were  condemned  to  be  ''  hanged,  drawn,  and 
quartered."  Whoever  delivered  up  a  bishop  who 
had  thus  dared  to  come  back  to  Ireland  after  being 
exiled,  received  a  reward  of  fifty  pounds.  The  re- 
ward for  capturing  and  delivering  up  an  unregistered 
priest  was  twenty  pounds,  and  for  a  Catholic  who 
was  found  teaching  school,  ten  pounds. 


2 TO         YOUNG    PEOPLES    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

An  important  part  of  the  infamous  penal  laws, 
indeed,  was  its  system  of  rewards  to  those  who  be- 
trayed the  persons  at  whom  the  law  was  aimed,  and 
the  inducements  held  out  to  those  who  abjured 
Catholicism  and  became  Protestants.  A  Catholic 
priest  who  turned  Protestant  was  entitled  to  receive 
a  pension  of  twenty  pounds  a  year.  Every  Catholic 
who  owned  land  was  compelled  to  leave  it,  in  equal 
shares,  to  all  his  sons.  But  if  the  eldest  son  be- 
came a  Protestant,  the  whole  estate  was  given  over 
to  him.  It  was  further  provided  that  no  Catholic 
could  buy  any  land ;  nor  could  any  Catholic  lease  a 
farm  for  a  longer  period  than  thirty-one  years.  If  a 
farm  leased  by  a  Catholic  yielded  a  third  more  than 
the  rent,  any  Protestant  who  discovered  the  fact  could 
turn  him  out  and  take  possession  of  his  farm.  No 
Catholic  was  allowed  to  own  a  horse  of  a  higher 
value  than  five  pounds  ;  if  he  did,  any  Protestant,  by 
Oppression  offering  him  five  pounds,  might  take  the 
of  Catholics,  i^orse.  No  Catholic  was  permitted  to 
keep  more  than  two  apprentices,  except  in  the  linen- 
trade.  Whoever  persuaded  a  Protestant  to  become 
a  Catholic,  was  condemned  to  imprisonment  for  life. 
No  Catholic  could  become  the  guardian  of  a  child, 
or  the  executor  of  an  estate.  If  a  Catholic  child 
turned  Protestant,  he  could  compel  his  father  to  give 
up  to  him  one-third  of  his  income. 

The  penal  laws  bore  heavily,  not  only  upon  the 
religion,  but  upon  the  social  condition  of  the  great 
mass  of  the  Irish  people.     All  Catholics  were  forbid- 


THE    PENAL    LAWS.  211 

den  to  keep  arms  and  ammunition  in  their  houses. 
The  magistrates  had  the  power  to  enter  the  homes 
of  Catholics,  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night,  to 
search  for  arms  ;  and,  if  any  were  discovered,  the 
master  of  the  house  was  condemned  to  pay  a  fine  of 
thirty  pounds  for  the  first  offence,  and  to  imprison- 
ment for  life  for  the  second.  This  law,  however, 
was  not  enforced  against  certain  lords  and  officers 
who  were  included  in  the  Limerick  treaty.  These 
were  allowed  to  keep  one  gun,  one  pistol,  and  one 
sword  each.  Catholic  gentlemen  were  forbidden  to 
go  more  than  five  miles  away  from  their  houses  with- 
out the  written  permission  of  the  magis-  protestant 
trates.  Marriage  between  Catholics  and  and  cathoiic 
Protestants  was  sternly  forbidden  under  '"^"'^^"• 
heavy  penalties.  A  Protestant  woman  who  married 
a  Catholic  was  condemned  to  forfeit  her  property  to 
her  next  Protestant  heir.  A  priest  or  clergyman  who 
married  a  Protestant  to  a  Catholic  was  condemned 
to  a  fine  of  twenty  pounds,  and  imprisonment  for  a 
year.  A  Protestant  man  who  married  a  Catholic 
woman  was  deprived  of  the  right  to  sit  in  Parlia- 
ment, or  to  hold  any  office,  unless  his  wife  turned 
Protestant  within  twelve  months. 

The  Irish  Catholics  were  excluded  by  the  penal 
code  from  the  practice  of  law.  All  lawyers  in  Ire- 
land were  obliged  to  take  the  oath  of  abjuration, 
which  repudiated  the  Catholic  creed.  Every  lawyer 
was  forced  to  educate  his  children  as  Protestants. 
A  lawyer  who  disobeyed  this  requirement  was  con- 


212         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


demned  to  pay  a  fine  of  two  hundred  pounds.  Any 
Exclusion  pcrson  might  call  upon  a  lawyer  to  take 
from  the  bar.   |-|^g    Qg^^-}^  .    ^j^^-]^    jf    ^^iQ    lawyer    refuscd, 

the  person  so  calling  upon  him  received  half  the 
fine  the  lawyer  had  to  pay.  No  Catholic  could  serve 
on  a  grand  jury,  and  no  lawyer  could  hire  a  Catho- 
lic as  a  clerk.  As  time  advanced,  the  penal  laws 
were  made  more  and  more  severe.  Those  of  King 
William's  reign  were  harsh  and  cruel,  but  those 
passed  in  the  reign  of  Anne  were  yet  more  rigorous. 
It  was  now  declared  that  no  Catholic  could  receive 
an  estate  either  by  gift  or  inheritance.  An  estate 
which  fell  by  descent  to  a  Catholic  was  given  over 
to  the  next  Protestant  heir.  Catholics,  moreover, 
were  now  for  the  first  time  excluded  from  the  right 
to  vote  at  elections.  Five-sixths  of  the  Irish  people 
were  thus  deprived  of  a  voice  in  choosing  members 
of  Parliament,  who  were  now  elected  solely  by  the 
Protestant  minority  of  one-sixth. 

So  completely,  indeed,  did  the  tyrannical  penal 
laws  shut  out  the  Irish  Catholics  from  the  privileges 
of  citizenship,  from  religious  freedom,  from  social 
well-being,  and  from  the  hope  of  prosperity,  that  an 
English  judge  declared  that  "the  law  did  not  suppose 
the  existence  of  any  such  person  as  an  Irish  Roman 
Catholic  ;  nor  could  they  even  breathe  without  the 
connivance  of  the  government."  But  the  penal 
laws  were  not  the  only  ones  which  were  imposed 
with  relentless  cruelty  upon  the  Irish.  Not  only 
were  the  English  resolved  to  deprive   the   Irish  of 


THE    PENAL    LAWS.  213 

their  land,  and  to  extinguish  the  religion  to  which  a 
vast  majority  of  the  Irish  ardently  clung  ;  inshindus- 
but  they  were  equally  resolved  to  crush  out  tries  crushed, 
of  Ireland  all  the  industries  by  which  they  might  live. 
England  had  become  a  great  manufacturing  and  com- 
mercial country.  She  was  determined  that  the  Irish 
manufacturers  and  ship-owners  should  not  enter  into 
competition  with  those  of  England.  A  series  of  laws 
was  therefore  passed,  which  at  first  restricted  Irish 
industry  and  commerce  to  narrow  limits,  and  later 
suppressed  them  altogether. 

Ireland  had  already  been  forbidden  to  introduce 
her  cattle,  pigs,  butter,  and  cheese  into  England ; 
and,  as  a  result,  a  large  number  of  Irish  farms  had 
ceased  to  produce  these,  and  had  turned  their  lands 
into  pastures  for  the  raising  of  sheep.  It  was  not 
long  before  Ireland  provided  the  best  wool  grown  in 
the  world.  Many  woollen-mills  were  established  in 
Ulster,  and  the  making  of  woollen  goods  soon  prom- 
ised to  bring  prosperity  to  the  northern  province. 
But  the  woollen  industry  was  also  a  large  one  in 
England.  It  would  not  do  to  let  it  thrive  in  Ireland, 
lest  the  Irish  manufacture  should  injure  the  English. 
So  the  Irish  were  forbidden  to  send  any  irish  manu- 
raw  wool  or  woollen  cloth  to  any  foreign  ^^^^tures. 
land,  or  to  any  English  colony.  They  could  only  send 
these  articles  to  England.  Thus  a  fatal  blow  was 
struck  at  the  Irish  industry ;  and  the  mill-owners, 
sheep-raisers,  and  weavers  were  reduced  to  misery 
and  want.     This  hardship  fell  with  especial  severity. 


214         YOUNG    PEOPLES    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

not  upon  the  native  Irish  Catholic,  but  the  Protes- 
tant EngUsh  of  Ulster,  who  had  always  been  loyal  to 
the  crown. 

Another  terrible  blow  to  Irish   industry  was  the 

suppression  of    her    ship-building   trade.     Irish    oak 

had  long  been  famous  for  its  excellence  as  a  material 

for  building   ships.      Ireland    had,   too,   many    good 

harbors.      But    her   ship-buildino^    rivalled 

Ship-build-  ^  ° 

ins  sup-  that  of  the  English.  It  was  therefore  de- 
pressed clared  that  Ireland  must  use  only  English- 
built  ships,  and  that  she  must  not  trade,  in  any  way, 
with  any  country  but  England.  All  articles  sent 
from  or  to  Ireland  must  pass  through  England. 
Even  the  linen  industry,  for  which  Ireland  was 
peculiarly  adapted,  since  flax  of  the  first  quality 
could  be  grown  there,  was  hampered  and  crippled 
by  English  selfishness  and  jealousy;  so  that,  in  the 
course  of  time,  the  efforts  of  the  Irish,  deprived  of 
the  greater  part  of  their  soil,  to  cherish  such  indus- 
tries as  she  was  capable  of  making  successful,  were 
paralyzed  by  the  outrageous  laws  imposed  upon  them 
by  their  English  masters.  The  result  was  that  Ire- 
land became,  more  than  ever,  the  abode  of  terrible 
want,  of  starvation,  nakedness,  vagabondage,  and 
desperate  lawlessness.  Poverty,  idleness,  and  de- 
spair reigned  everywhere  throughout  the  unhappy 
land. 


IRELAND    PROSTRATE.  21 5 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

IRELAND    PROSTRATE. 

THE  picture  of  Ireland  in  the  first  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century  is  a  most  gloomy  one.  Ire- 
land lay  bound  hand  and  foot  beneath  the  rule  of  her 
English  master.  There  remained,  indeed,  in  that 
period,  but  one  ray  of  hope  for  the  down-trodden  land. 
This  was  in  the  unsubdued  national  spirit  The  national 
of  its  people.  The  tyranny  and  misfor-  ^p*"^* 
tunes  of  centuries  had  not  crushed  out  the  peculiar 
traits  which  marked  the  Irish  character.  Love  of 
country  and  of  home,  a  desperate  clinging  to  the  soil 
of  their  island,  ardent  devotion  to  their  faith,  — 
qualities  which  survived  every  oppression,  —  saved 
the  Irish  from  national  extinction,  and  baffled  every 
stubborn  effort  of  English  power  to  subdue  them.  A 
race  less  strong  in  its  national  traits  must  have 
yielded  to  the  weight  of  that  power,  as  it  was  felt 
in  Ireland  in  the  reigns  of  Anne  and  the  first  two 
Georges.  Almost  all  the  land  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  English.  The  laws  were  made  by  the  Protestant 
Parliament,  which  was  elected  solely  by  Protestant 
votes,  and  was  the  creature  of  the  English  crown ; 


2l6  YOUNG    people's   HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

and  the  laws  thus  made  were  executed  solely  by 
Protestant  officials.  The  church  of  the  small  mi- 
nority was  sustained  by  the  forced  contributions  of 
the  majority.  The  church  of  the  majority  was  per- 
secuted, and,  as  far  as  possible,  suppressed  by  the 
penal  laws. 

One  great  evil  in  Ireland  was  the  fact,  that  many 
of  the  large  owners  of  the  land  perpetually  absented 
themselves  from  their  estates.  They  lived  abroad, 
in  England  or  on  the  continent,  enjoying  the  luxuries 
which  were  supported  by  the  rents  paid  by  the  poor 
Irish    peasants.     These    men  were  called 

Absentees.  ^^ 

"absentees;  and ''absenteeism  has  long 
been  the  cause  of  a  great  many  of  the  miseries  which 
the  Irish  have  suffered.  The  absentees  had  agents 
on  their  Irish  estates,  who  ground  down  the  tenants 
remorselessly.  They  compelled  them  to  pay  high 
rents,  and,  if  they  were  unable  to  pay  these  rents, 
turned  them  out  of  their  plots  without  mercy. 
Thus  a  large  part  of  the  money  earned  by  Irish  toil 
went  out  of  the  country,  and  was  spent  by  the  ab- 
sentees in  foreign  lands.  This  naturally  made  Ire- 
land ever  poorer  and  poorer.  After  a  while,  the  law 
which  forbade  the  Irish  to  import  cattle,  pork,  but- 
ter, and  cheese,  into  England,  was  repealed.  But 
this,  as  it  proved,  only  added  to  the  distress  of  the 
country.  It  took  a  far  smaller  number  of  men  to 
raise  cattle,  than  to  till  the  soil.  So  it  happened 
that  thousands  of  the  Irish  were  deprived  of  employ- 
ment, and  were  thrust  out  upon  the  roads  to  starve 
and  die. 


IRELAND    PROSTRATE.  21/ 

Driven  by  hunger  and  want  to  fierce  despair,  the 
Irish  began  to  form  themselves  into  secret  bands, 
and  to  attack  those  who  had  robbed  them  of  the 
chance  to  work,  and  doomed  their  children  Desperation 
to  the  horrors  of  famine.  These  bands  °^  ^^^  ^"^^• 
were  known  as  '' Whiteboys."  They  continued  to 
commit  desperate  acts  for  many  years.  They  began 
by  mutilating,  maiming,  and  killing  the  cattle  belong- 
ing to  the  land-owners.  This  was  because  it  was  the 
revival  of  cattle-raising  which  had  driven  them  from 
the  soil.  Sometimes  the  air,  for  miles  around,  would 
resound,  in  the  dead  of  night,  with  the  frenzied  cries 
of  the  poor  cows,  which  had  been  wounded  by  the 
Whiteboys,  and  were  dying  in  agony.  Then  the 
Whiteboys  committed  crimes  yet  more  savage. 
They  hid  behind  hedges,  or  on  the  edges  of  the 
woods,  and  shot  down  landlords  and  herdsmen  as 
they  passed  ^long  the  highway.  They  burned  cow- 
sheds, sheep-pens,  and  even  the  dwellings  of  the 
v^ell-to-do.  All  the  while  the  peasants,  who  sympa- 
thized with  the  Whiteboys,  sheltered  them  The  white- 
in  their  huts,  and  aided  them  to  escape  ^°y^' 
from  their  pursuers.  Very  severe  laws  were  passed 
against  the  Whiteboys  ;  and  when  any  of  them  were 
captured,  they  were  promptly  hung.  But  in  spite  of 
this,  the  Whiteboys  long  maintained  a  reign  of  terror, 
especially  in  southern  Ireland. 

Other  secret  societies  sprang  up,  from  time  to 
time,  among  the  desperate  and  wretched  Irish.  In 
Ulster,  a   society  called  "  Oakboys "  (because  they 


2l8  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

wore  sprigs  of  oak  on  their  coats),  resisted  the  law 
which  compelled  everybody  to  work  six  days  in  the 
year,  without  pay,  on  repairing  the  public  roads. 
The  poor  had  been  compelled  to  obey  this  law,  while 
the  rich  and  well-to-do  had  been  released  from  the 
labor  it  imposed.  The  Oakboys  refused  to  do  any 
more  work  on  the  roads,  until  the  prosperous  farm- 
ers were  also  compelled  to  do  their  share.  Another 
society  was  that  of  the  "  Heart-of-steel  Boys,"  who 
stoutly  refused  to  pay  the  money  which  some  of  the 
landlords  demanded  for  renewing  land  leases  which 
had  expired.  About  the  same  period,  —  in  the  reign 
of  George  the  First,  —  an  event  took  place  which 
for  once  united  all  Irishmen,  Protestant  and  Catho- 
lic, rich  and  poor,  in  stubborn  resistance  to  op- 
wood's  pression.    An  Englishman,  named  William 

patent.  Wood,  rcceivcd  a  patent  from  the  crown 

to  coin  a  large  quantity  of  debased  copper  half- 
pence and  farthings,  for  use  in  Ireland.  These 
debased  coins  were  to  be  forced  upon  the  Irish,  who 
were  to  be  compelled  to  accept  them  as  good  money. 
The  whole  island  rose  against  the  imposition ;  and 
so  obstinate  was  this  resistance  that  the  king  was 
obliged  to  withdraw  Wood's  patent  (1722). 

This  "  copper  war,"  as    it  was    called,  marks  the 

beginning  of  a  new  era  in  Irish  history.     The  most 

famous  and  able  Irishman  of  the  day  was  Jonathan 

Swift,  dean  of  St.   Patrick's.     He  is  best 

Dean  Swift.  . .  - 

known  as  dean  Swift.     He  was  one  of  the 
most  forcible  and  brilliant  writers   of   his   age.     In 


IRELAND    PROSTRATE.  219 

spite  of  his  many  faults,  and  his  high  position  in  the 
English  church,  dean  Swift  felt  a  great  sympathy 
for  his  down-trodden,  poverty-stricken,  discontented 
country.  Already  he  had  vigorously  denounced  the 
laws  by  which  England  had  tried  to  crush  out  Irish 
industry.  He  had  boldly  advised  the  Irish  "  to  burn 
every  thing  English  except  the  coal."  He  said  to 
them,  *'  By  the  laws  of  God,  of  nature,  of  nations,  and 
of  your  own  country,  you  are,  and  ought  to  be,  as 
free  a  people  as  your  brethren  in  England."  Swift 
took  an  active  part  in  the  copper  war.  He  gath- 
ered about  him  a  group  of  Irishmen  who  were  as 
hostile  as  himself  to  the  tyrannical  laws  under  which 
Ireland  suffered.  The  triumph  of  the  Irish  over 
"Wood's  half-pence,"  gained,  as  it  was,  not  by  rebel- 
lion, but  by  the  union  of  all  the  people  in  a  vigorous 
agitation,  showed  that  they  were  more  likely  to  se- 
cure the  righting  of  their  wrongs  by  agitation  than 
by  violence.  Thus,  under  the  inspiration  of  dean 
Swift,  a  new  method  of  resisting  English  power  was 
discovered  ;  and,  for  the  first  time,  a  succession  of 
Irish  agitators  arose.  Out  of  the  copper  war,  there 
came  into  existence  a  new  political  party.  The  Patriot 
called  the  "Patriot  party."  The  Patriot  p^^^- 
party  has  continued  to  exist,  in  some  form,  from 
that  time  to  this  ;  and  has  never  wholly  ceased  to 
agitate  for  the  recovery  of  Irish  rights. 

Meanwhile  the  cruel  tyranny  under  which  Ireland 
suffered  was  followed  by  two  important  results.  The 
poverty  to  which  many  of   the   Irish  were  reduced 


220         YOUNG   people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

caused  a  large  emigration  of  Irishmen  to  North 
America.  Those  who  thus  resolved  to  leave  their 
ancestral  land  for  new  homes  across  the  ocean  com- 
prised not  only  native  Irish,  but  also  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  Scottish  Presbyterians  who  had  settled 
in  Ulster,  and  of  descendants  of  the  early  English 
settlers  in  eastern  Ireland.  The  emigration  of  the 
Irish  to  America  has  continued  ever  since.  In  the 
early  part  of  the  reign  of  George  the  Second,  the  Irish 
Irish  emi-  had  bcguu  to  ci'oss  the  Atlantic  by  thou- 
gration.  sands.  Ill  one  year  (1729)  more  than  five 
thousand  Irish  arrived  at  Philadelphia.  In  later 
years,  the  Irish  swarmed  across  the  ocean  to  find 
new  homes  in  the  Carolinas,  Virginia,  Maryland, 
New  York,  and  New  England.  They  thus  became 
citizens  of  the  colonies,  which,  in  due  time,  rose  in 
arms  against  English  rule  ;  and  among  the  patriots 
of  the  American  revolution  were  to  be  found  many 
of  the  sons  of  the  Irish  whom  English  tyranny  had 
driven,  forty  years  before,  from  their  native  land. 

The  result  of  the  laws  which  sought  to  suppress 
wool-growing,  woollen  manufactures,  and  other  Irish 
industries,  was,  that  smuggling  began  to  be  practised 
on  a  large  scale  along  the  Irish  coast.     The  many  har- 
bors and  inlets  of  the  western  and  south- 

Smuggling. 

ern  Irish  shores  afforded  excellent  chances 
for  this  illegal  traffic,  and  could  not  easily  be  watched 
and  guarded  by  the  English  cruisers.  The  French 
needed  wool,  and  Irish  wool  was  to  be  had  cheaper 
than  any  other.      So   great  quantities   of  wool  were 


IRELAND    PROSTRATE.  221 


smuggled  off  to  France  ;  and,  in  return,  the  smug- 
gling vessels  brought  back  French  wines,  brandy, 
and  other  articles.  Often  priests,  also,  were  secretly- 
introduced  by  these  vessels  into  Ireland.  The  smug- 
glers carried  on  their  trade  in  safety ;  for  the  whole 
population  of  the  coast  concealed,  aided,  and  abetted 
them.  The  officers  of  the  law  could  not  find  them ; 
or  if,  perchance,  they  did,  the  smugglers  were  res- 
cued, or,  if  brought  to  trial,  were  acquitted  by  friendly 
juries.  So  it  was  that  the  Irish  were  taught,  by  the 
gross  tyranny  with  which  they  were  treated,  to  evade 
and  defy  the  laws  under  which  they  lived. 


222         YOUNG    PEOPLE'S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE. 

DURING  the  greater  part  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, the  great  mass  of  the  Irish  suffered  con- 
stantly, and  at  times  desperately,  under  the  operation 
of  the  cruel  penal  laws.  The  Irish  Catholics  were 
treated  by  their  English  masters  as  "enemies." 
They  were  shut  out  from  the  ownership  of  land. 
They  were  forbidden  to  enter  upon  avenues  of  manu- 
facture, trade,  and  commerce.  They  were  forced  to 
Oppression  support,  by  the  payment  of  tithes,  the 
of  the  Irish  church  of  the  small  Protestant  minority, 
and  also  to  sustain  their  own  priesthood. 
Their  only  chance  of  education  lay  in  deserting  their 
faith.  The  charter  schools  were  established  to  make 
Protestants  of  poor  Catholic  children.  The  land- 
lords were  protected  by  the  law  and  its  officers  in 
ruling  their  tenants  with  an  iron  hand ;  nor  was 
there  any  bond  of  sympathy  between  the  oppressed 
tenants  and  the  oppressing  landlords.  The  tenants 
believed  that  their  only  way  to  resist  landlord  tyranny 
was  by  secret  conspiracy  and  violence.  Even  the 
Irish  Protestants  suffered  so  desperately  under  the 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  223 

laws  which  crushed  out  the  industries  of  Ulster, 
that  they  were  reduced  to  utter  poverty ;  to  escape 
which,  they  resorted  by  thousands  to  emigration  to 
foreign  lands.  It  is  said  that,  in  the  middle  of  the 
century,  twelve  thousand  Protestants  emigrated  from 
Ireland  every  year. 

Famine  recurred  inevitably  among  a  population  so 
pent  up  and  restricted  in  its  opportunities  to  labor 
for  existence.  Towards  the  middle  of  the  century 
(1739-40),  the  misery  of  the  people  in  many  parts  of 
Ireland  was  extreme  from  want  of  food.  The  roads 
were  covered  with  the  dead  and  the  dying.  Malig- 
nant fevers  laid  whole  villages  waste.  "  Whole 
thousands  in  a  barony,"  wrote  a  Protes-  Famine  and 
tant  clergyman  of  the  period,  ''  have  per-  ^^^"• 
ished ;  some  of  hunger,  and  others  of  disorders 
occasioned  by  unnatural,  unwholesome,  and  putrid 
diet."  It  is  believed  that  more  than  three  hundred 
thousand  persons  died  in  Ireland  in  two  years  from 
famine,  and  the  diseases  which  followed  in  its  train. 
One  great  evil,  at  this  very  period  of  utter  wretched- 
ness among  the  poorer  Irish,  was  that  many  of  the 
Irish  landlords  absented  themselves  entirely  from 
the  country.  The  money  wrung  in  rents  from  the 
poverty-stricken  tenants  was  spent,  not  in  Ireland, 
where  it  might  in  some  degree,  at  least,  have  relieved 
the  prevalent  distress,  but  in  London,  Paris,  and 
other  places  abroad.  The  money  thus  drawn  from 
Ireland  to  go  into  foreign  pockets  amounted  some- 
times to  over  a  million  pounds  a  year. 


224         YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

The  poor  Irish  rapidly  fell  into  the  condition  of 
living  in  wretched  mud  hovels,  where,  with  scanty 
The  poorer  clothing  and  yet  more  scanty  food,  they 
classes.  dwclt  rather  like  beasts  than  human   be- 

ings. At  the  same  time,  the  good  farming  lands,  in 
many  parts  of  the  country,  were  turned  into  pastures 
for  the  rearing  of  herds  and  flocks,  because  the  ten- 
ants could  not  afford  to  enrich  and  till  the  soil.  The 
result  of  this  was  to  produce  a  crop  of  wanderers 
and  beggars,  who  only  worked  fitfully,  and  during 
a  large  part  of  the  year  depended  on  alms  for  sub- 
sistence. Habits  of  idleness,  of  contempt  of  law, 
and  of  crime,  naturally  sprang  from  such  a  condition 
of  things.  Beggary  easily  develops  into  theft,  and 
theft  into  robbery  and  murder.  Irish  beggars  some- 
times maimed  or  blinded  their  own  children,  in  order 
to  make  them  objects  of  pity,  and  thus  of  charity. 
Work-  Workhouses  were  established  by  the  gov- 

houses.  ernment,  to  which  persons  found  begging 

were  committed,  and  wherein  they  were  compelled 
to  work  ;  but  the  inveterate  aversion  of  even  the 
poorest  Irish  to  the  workhouses  rendered  them  of 
little  use  in  limiting  the  evil  of  vagabondage. 

The  habits  of  the  middle  and  higher  classes  in 
Ireland  during  the  eighteenth  century  were  reckless 
and  extravagant.  They  lorded  it  over  the  lower 
classes,  often  with  pitiless  severity ;  and  were  them- 
selves, to  a  large  degree,  given  over  to  dissipation 
and  self-indulgence.  This  was  especially  the  case 
with  the  smaller  landlords  and  gentlemen.     Drunk- 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  225 

enness  was  habitual  amonsf  laro:e  numbers  of  them. 
Duelling  was  practised  as  a  settled  custom.  Horse- 
racing,  cock-fighting,  gambling,  the  sports  of  the 
field  and  forest,  were  more  ardently  pursued  in  Ire- 
land than  in  England.  On  the  other  ihsh 
hand,  the  lavish  and  generous  hospitality  hospitality, 
for  which  the  Irish  were  famous  from  the  earliest 
times,  was  still  a  marked  feature  of  Irish  society. 
The  Irish  gentleman,  indeed,  lived  often  in  a  plain 
and  unsightly,  and  sometimes  in  a  dilapidated,  man- 
sion. He  did  not  spend  his  money  on  architectural 
ornament,  or  even  on  domestic  convenience.  But 
within  his  unadorned  walls  the  entertainment  of  his 
guests  was  profuse  and  prolonged.  It  is  said  that, 
in  the  dwelling  of  one  Connaught  nobleman,  *'  the 
slaughtered  ox  was  hung  up  whole,  and  the  hungry 
servitor  supplied  himself  with  his  dole  of  flesh  sliced 
from  off  the  carcass."  This  lord,  **from  an  early 
dinner  to  the  hour  of  rest,  never  left  his  chair ;  nor 
did  the  claret  wine  ever  quit  his  table." 

The  vice  of  absenteeism  on  the  part  of  the 
Irish  landlords,  produced  a  large  number  of  ''middle- 
men," who  acted  as  accents  to   the   land-    ..      ^    . 

'  c>  Absenteeism 

lords.  These,  with  the  smaller  landlords,  and  middie- 
formed  a  class  largely  given  over  to  dis-  "^^"" 
solute  and  reckless  habits.  "They  sublet  their  lands 
in  rack  rents,"  says  Lecky ;  ''kept  miserable  packs 
of  half-starved  hounds,  wandered  from  fair  to  fair, 
and  from  race  to  race,  in  laced  coats,  gambling, 
fighting,  drinking,  swearing,  and  sporting ;  parading 


226         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

everywhere  their  contempt  for  honest  labor,  and 
giving  a  tone  of  recklessness  to  every  society  in 
which  they  moved."  These  were  the  men  who 
ground  down  the  tenants  most  pitilessly,  who  turned 
with  deaf  ear  from  the  most  heart-rending  tales  of 
destitution  and  starvation,  and  who  gave  to  the 
classes  below  them  the  example  of  the  worst  vices 
with  which  Ireland  was  afflicted.  Their  brutal  ex- 
ample taught  the  ignorant  that  *'  idleness  and  ex- 
travagance were  noble  things,  and  that  parsimony, 
order,  and  industry  were  degrading  to  a  gentleman." 
Happily,  there  is  a  brighter  side  to  the  picture  of 
Irish  life  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Side  by  side 
with  the  abject  wretchedness  and  slavery  of  the 
many,  with  the  headlong  dissipation  of  the  middle 
class,  there  existed  much  intellectual  activity  and  an 
energetic  public  spirit.  In  the  early  part  of  the  cen- 
tury, many  Irishmen  became  eminent  in  literature. 
The  greatest  name  among  these  was  that  of  Jonathan 
Swift.  Bishop  Berkeley  was  another  whose  works 
are  still  honored  and  remembered.  Archbishop  King, 
provost  Browne,  Parnell  the  poet,  Skelton,  Hutche- 
son,  Brooke,  were  among  the  Irish  writers  of  dis- 
tinction. Later  in  the  century  a  brilliant  galaxy  of 
Irish  authors  appeared  in  Lawrence  Sterne, 

Irish  writers.  .  . 

Oliver  Goldsmith,  Edmund  Burke,  and 
Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan.  Societies  devoted  to 
philosophy,  literature,  and  art,  flourished  in  Ireland. 
The  most  notable  of  these  were  the  Dublin  Philo- 
sophical Society,  founded  in  the  latter  part  of   the 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  22/ 

preceding"  century  ;  the  Physico-Historical  Society ; 
and,  most  important  of  all,  the  Dublin  Society 
(1731).  The  object  of  the  Dublin  Society  was  ''to 
improve  husbandry,  manufactures,  and  other  useful 
arts."  Lord  Chesterfield  said  of  it,  that  "it  did  more 
good  to  Ireland,  with  regard  to  arts  and  industry, 
than  all  the  laws  that  could  have  been  formed." 

In  the  last  half  of  the  century,  the  Dublin  Society 
did  a  good  work  in  devoting  itself  to  fostering  the 
ornamental  arts  in  Ireland.  The  country  The  Dublin 
had  already  produced  several  portrait  society, 
painters  of  merit,  and  a  school  of  engraving  was 
established  in  Dublin.  An  academy  of  art  was 
founded,  and  exhibitions  of  paintings  were  annually 
held  at  the  capital.  Some  improvements  in  archi- 
tectural adornment  were  carried  to  a  higher  perfec- 
tion in  Ireland  than  in  any  other  country.  Later  in 
the  century,  an  Irishman,  James  Barry,  rose  to  the 
highest  grade  of  eminence  as  a  historical  painter. 
Intellectual  discussion  was  active  and  earnest  among 
the  scholarly  circles  of  Ireland  for  many  years.  Men 
of  learning  engaged  in  controversies  on  theology, 
political  economy,  political  reform,  industrial  theories, 
and  social  conditions,  by  means,  principally,  of  pam- 
phlets. Prominent  among  these  were  Berkeley,  Mad- 
den, Prior,  Lord  Molesworth,  Edward  Synge,  and 
archbishop  Boulter.  The  most  earnest  of  these  dis- 
cussions were  those  which  related  to  the  position  of 
the  two  churches  in  Ireland. 

As  the  century  wore  on,  the  bitterness  of  feeling 


228         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

between  the  Catholics  and  the  Protestants  in  Ireland 
A  more  toi-  gradually  declined.  The  penal  laws  were 
erant  era.  jggg  often  rigidly  cnforccd.  The  rites  of 
the  Catholic  church  were  almost  openly  performed, 
in  spite  of  the  laws,  throughout  Ireland.  The  divis- 
ions between  class  and  class  became  less  broad  and 
deep.  Even  the  government,  aided  as  it  was  by 
Irish  Parliaments  which  were  exclusively  Protestant, 
became  less  stringent ;  and  many  useful  measures 
were  placed  upon  the  statute-book.  The  people 
were  less  severely  taxed.  It  was  observed  that  less 
corruption  and  less  extravagance  took  place  at  the 
elections,  and  that  the  Irish  government  was  car- 
ried on  with  greater  economy  and  industry.  The 
morals  of  the  Irish  people,  too,  had,  in  the  course  of 
years,  noticeably  improved.  Domestic  virtues ;  re- 
spect for  women,  charity,  and  generosity ;  fidelity  to 
family  affection  and  to  friendship ;  ardent  gratitude 
and  devotion  to  benefactors,  —  were  traits  which 
marked  the  lives  even  of  the  Irish  poor  to  a  greater 
degree,  perhaps,  than  those  of  any  other  European 
race. 

The  Irish  of  the  eighteenth  century  were  as  fond 
of  music,  dancing,  the  boisterous  games  of  the  fair 
and  the  festival,  as  ever  their  ancestors  had  been. 
The  ancient  and  revered  line  of  the  bards,  indeed, 
did  not  become  extinct  until  the  death  of  the  famous 
Irish  amuse-  Carolan  (1737).  While  the  traditional 
ments.  rccrcations    of    the    people    continued    to 

flourish,  many   of   the  vicious    amusements    of    the 


CONDITION    OF    THE    IRISH    PEOPLE.  22g 

early  and  middle  parts  of  the  century  became  less 
prevalent  towards  its  close.  Drunkenness  was  less 
universal,  and  duelling  was  ceasing  to  be  a  regular 
custom  among  the  choleric  squires.  No  people  ever 
clung  more  tenaciously  to  their  old  homes,  traditions, 
customs,  religious  beliefs,  and  affections  ;  and  in  spite 
of  oppressions  and  miseries  which  had  endured  for 
centuries,  the  Irish  remained  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, what,  indeed,  they  are  in  the  nineteenth,  a 
singularly  light-hearted,  cheerful,  imaginative  race. 
Tyranny  had  failed  to  quench  not  only  their  national 
spirit,  but  the  joyousness  and  gayety  of  their  natures. 
Some  of  the  large  towns  of  Ireland  vied,  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  in  population  and  varied  activi- 
ties, with  the  towns  of  England.  Dublin  Large  Irish 
was  the  second  town  in  Great  Britain  and  t°w"s. 
Ireland,  in  the  number  of  its  inhabitants.  At  one 
period  its  population  was  somewhat  over  a  hundred 
thousand  (1750).  It  is  said  that  its  St.  Stephen's 
Green  was  the  largest  public  square  in  Europe.  Dub- 
lin had  broad  quays,  several  fine  public  buildings,  a 
flourishing  university,  and  some  elegant  residences. 
The  castle  in  which  the  lord-lieutenant  held  his  court 
was  often  the  scene  of  brilliant  levees  and  banquets. 
The  theatres,  public  gardens,  and  music-halls  were 
filled  with  pleasure-loving  crowds.  Handel's  "  Mes- 
siah "  was  first  produced  in  Dublin ;  and  Garrick 
there  played  ''  Hamlet  "  for  the  first  time.  Among 
the  larger  Irish  towns,  Cork  had  a  population  of 
sixty  thousand,  and  Limerick  over  twenty  thousand. 


230         YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

The  county  towns  next  in  importance  were  Water- 
ford,  Kilkenny,  and  Galway.  Upon  all  of  these 
towns,  indeed,  rested  the  blight  of  the  penal  laws, 
and  of  those  laws  which  from  time  to  time  had  im- 
posed restrictions  on  Irish  trade  and  commerce. 
Yet,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  each  of  them  pre- 
sented some  features  of  thrift,  which  proved  that  the 
business  capacity  of  Irishmen,  under  greater  freedom, 
would  have  created  wealth  and  prosperity. 


THE    IRISH    PATRIOTS.  23 1 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

THE    IRISH    PATRIOTS. 

THE  political  history  of  Ireland  during  the  eight- 
eenth century  relates  largely  to  the  efforts 
of  Irish  patriots  to  obtain  for  their  country  some 
degree  of  political  freedom.  The  Irish  Parliament, 
composed  as  it  was  entirely  of  Protestants,  Protestant 
and  chosen  by  Protestant  voters  only.  Ascendancy, 
still  remained  entirely  subject  to  English  power. 
Poyning's  Act,  which  had  been  passed  centuries 
before,  and  by  which  every  Irish  measure  had  to  be 
submitted  to  the  English  privy  council,  before  it 
could  even  be  considered  in  the  Irish  Parliament, 
still  remained  in  force.  To  it  was  added  another 
law,  in  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  George  the 
First,  by  which  it  was  declared  that  the  English  Par- 
liament had  power  to  make  laws  for  the  Irish  people 
(1720).  The  Irish  patriots  wished  to  get  rid  of  these 
restrictions ;  to  obtain  for  the  Irish  Parliament  the 
real  power  to  make  laws  for  Ireland  without  English 
interference ;  and  to  so  reform  the  Irish  Parliament 
itself,  that  it  would  better  represent  the  Irish 
people. 


232         YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

Among  the  many  grievances  under  which  the  Irish 
suffered,  was  the  fact  that  large  sums  were  taken 
from  the  Irish  revenues,  and  given  as  pensions  to  the 
favorites,  illegitimate  children,  and  mis- 
tresses of  the  English  kings.  Ireland  was 
poverty-stricken.  Her  trade  and  manufactures  had, 
to  a  large  extent,  been  crushed  out  by  English  self- 
ishness :  her  woollen  industry  had  been  similarly 
crippled.  Yet  the  taxes  wrung  from  Irish  toil  were 
thus  given  to  worthless  people,  who  enjoyed  the  in- 
comes thus  derived  in  idle  luxury.  At  one  period 
(1733)  the  amount  of  pensions  drawn  from  the  Irish 
revenues  amounted  to  seventy  thousand  pounds  a 
year.  Another  abuse  was  the  ''charter  schools," 
The  charter  which  wcrc  established  throughout  the 
schools.  country  for  the  purpose  of  educating  poor 
Catholic  children  to  become  Protestants.  These 
schools  were  at  first  free  :  they  then  became  board- 
ing-schools, in  which  the  poor  children  were  starved 
and  neglected,  and  which  became  merely  a  source  of 
income  to  their  managers. 

The  Irish  patriots  were,  for  the  most  part,  Protes- 
tants, who  devoted  themselves  to  the  removal  of  the 
unjust  laws  by  which  Ireland  was  burdened.  They 
formed  a  political  party  which  acted  in  Parliament 
in  opposition  to  the  government.  The  founders  of 
this  party  were  dean  Swift  and  a  group  of  Irishmen 
who  acted  with  him.  The  chief  feature  of  their  ac- 
tion, as  has  been  said,  was  that,  instead  of  trying  to 
obtain  for  Ireland  her  rights  by  conspiracy  and  re- 


THE    IRISH    PATRIOTS.  233 


bellion,  they  aimed  to  achieve  that  end  by  discussion 
and  agitation  in  the  public  press,  and  within  the 
walls  of  Parliament.  They  hoped  to  win  their  cause 
by  peaceable  and  orderly  methods.  They  were  at 
first  a  small  party,  but  they  grew  formidable  in  the 
flight  of  years.  Some  of  the  patriots  proved  corrupt, 
and  were  bribed  by  the  English  government  with 
pensions  and  offices,  to  desert  the  cause  of  their 
country  and  turn  against  it.  But  in  spite  of  such 
desertions,  the  party  thrived  and,  in  the  end,  pre- 
vailed. One  of  the  earliest  and  most  ac-  The  leading 
tive  of  the  patriots  was  Charles  Lucas,  a  patriots, 
chemist  in  Dublin,  who  established  the  "  Freeman's 
Journal,"  in  which  he  vigorously  advocated  the  right 
of  the  Irish  to  rule  themselves.  Lucas  became  a 
member  of  Parliament,  and  was  long  the  leader  of 
the  little  group  of  twenty-eight  patriots  who  were 
battling,  in  the  Irish  House  of  Commons,  for  their 
country's  liberties. 

But  in  time  there  arose  two  leaders  of  the  patriot 
party  who  were  far  above  all  the  others  in  eloquence, 
energy,  and  fervor,  and  whose  genius  added  great 
strength  to  the  cause  they  had  at  heart.  These  were 
Henry  Flood  and  Henry  Grattan.  Flood  Flood  and 
came  of  a  good  Protestant  family,  was  well  ^rattan, 
educated,  and  was  endowed  to  a  rare  degree  with  the 
gift  of  oratory.  He  was  brilliant  and  ambitious,  and 
for  some  years  led  the  patriots  with  a  spirit  and 
ardor  which  made  him  the  idol  of  the  people.  He 
entered  the  Irish  Parliament,  where  he  attacked  the 


234         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

tyrannical  lord-justice,  archbishop  Stone,  with  fear- 
less vigor,  and  persuaded  the  House  to  declare  that 
it  alone  had  the  right  to  decide  upon  measures  for 
taxing  the  people  and  spending  the  revenue.  Side 
by  side  with  Lucas,  Burgh,  Daly,  and  other  patriots, 
Flood  struggled,  in  the  new  Irish  Parliament  (which 
was  chosen  upon  the  accession  of  George  the  Third, 
1760),  to  correct  some  of  the  abuses  which  existed 
in  Ireland.  The  Irish  Parliament  had  before  had  an 
indefinite  life,  and  had  only  been  called  together  once 
in  two  years.  It  had  not  been  dissolved  so  long  as 
its  conduct  suited  the  English  king.  But  now,  by 
the  efforts  of  the  patriots,  a  law  was  passed  that  the 
existence  of  an  Irish  Parliament  should  be  limited  to 
eight  years.  The  patriots  also  succeeded  in  redu- 
cing the  amount  of  the  odious  pension-list,  and  in 
doing  away  with  some  of  the  penal  laws. 

Flood's  ambition,  however,  was  not  satisfied  with 
leading  the  patriots.  In  an  evil  hour  for  his  own 
fame,  he  accepted  the  office  of  vice-treasurer  from 
Flood  ac-  the  government.  It  is  said  that  his  rea- 
cepts  office.  gQj^  {qj-  doing  this  was  that  he  might  the 
more  effectively  aid  the  patriot  cause.  But  the  re- 
sult of  his  acceptance  of  the  office  was,  that  he  lost 
all  influence  with  his  former  friends,  and  was  looked 
upon  by  them  as  a  traitor  to  Ireland.  His  place  as 
chief  of  the  patriots,  however,  was  soon  filled  by  a 
greater  man  than  he.  Of  all  Irishmen  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  the  figure  of  Henry  Grattan  stands 
foremost  and  unapproached.     Eloquent,  pure,  reso- 


THE    IRISH    PATRIOTS.  235 

lute,  full  of  the  most  ardent  and  unflinching  patriot- 
ism, the  champion  both  of  the  Protestant  patriots 
and  of  his  oppressed  Catholic  fellow-countrymen ; 
endowed,  moreover,  with  brilliant  talents  as  a  legis- 
lator, debater,  and  statesman,  Henry  Grattan  was, 
above  all  men,  fitted  to  lead  in  the  hard  struggle  for 
the  liberation  of  Ireland.  Grattan  entered  the  Irish 
House  of  Commons,  for  the  first  time,  at  the  early 
age  of  twenty-five  (1775).  It  was  a  critical  moment 
alike  in  Irish,  English,  and  American  history.  The 
American  revolution  was  on  the  point  of  breaking 
out ;  and  it  was  the  events  which  speedily  grew  out 
of  the  American  revolution  which  gave  Ireland,  under 
Grattan's  leadership,  her  long-awaited  chance  to 
secure  parliamentary  independence. 

Flood    and    Grattan    had    been    friends,    and   had 
worked   together  in   the    patriot   cause.     But   when 
Flood  accepted  an  office,  an  open  and  bitter  quarrel 
took  place  between  them,  and  Grattan  took  Flood's 
place   at    the  head   of   the  patriot   party.   Qratt^n 
When  the  American  revolution  broke  out,   leads  the 
the  English  government  demanded  that  a  ^^  "°*^' 
force  of  four  thousand  troops  should  be  raised  in  Ire- 
land, and  sent  out  to  fight  the  American  colonists. 
Grattan,  who   sympathized  deeply  with  the  Ameri- 
cans, opposed  this  with  all  the  resources  of  his  elo- 
quence ;  but  the  troops  were  raised  and  sent  in  spite 
of  his  opposition.     It  was  not  long,  however,  before 
events    occurred   which    enabled    Grattan   to    resist 
English  power  with  effect.     The  defeat  of  Burgoyne 


236         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

at  Saratoga  (1777),  and  the  alliance  of  France  with 
the  American  colonies,  completely  changed  the  face 
of  affairs.  The  immediate  result  of  these  events 
was  to  produce  a  great  deal  of  distress  in  both  Ireland 
and  England.  Thousands  of  laborers  were  deprived 
of  work,  and  the  taxes  needed  to  carry  on  the  war  lay 
heavily  upon  the  people. 

Then  there  arose  a  new  danger.  The  coasts  and 
ports  of  Ireland  were  threatened  by  French  cruisers, 
The  Irish  ^^^  ^Y  ^^^  dcprcdatious  of  the  redoubtable 
coast  threat-  American  buccaneer,  John  Paul  Jones. 
The  defences  of  the  coast  and  ports  were 
miserably  weak.  Belfast  was  protected  by  a  little 
band  of  sixty  soldiers.  The  peril  of  invasion  and 
rapine  inspired  the  Irish  to  raise  a  large  force  of 
"Volunteers,"  to  protect  the  island  from  its  assail- 
ants. Both  Protestants  and  Catholics,  without  dis- 
tinction of  race  or  faith,  swarmed  into  the  ranks  of 
this  organization.  The  Orangeman  of  Ulster  found 
himself  side  by  side  with  the  peasant  of  Connaught. 
In  every  town  and  county,  bodies  of  volunteers  were 
quickly  raised,  drilled,  and  armed.  Among  the  ac- 
tive organizers  of  the  body  were  not  only  the  leading 
patriots,  like  Grattan  and  Burgh,  but  also  nobles,  like 
the  duke  of  Leinster,  the  earl  of  Charlemont,  and  the 
earl  of  Bristol.  In  no  long  time  the  Irish  Volunteers 
amounted  to  sixty  thousand  well-armed  men,  com- 
manded by  the  patriotic  earl  of  Charlemont.  They 
were  provided  with  two  hundred  cannon,  and  soon 
formed  a  well-disciplined  army.     In  the  face  of  such 


THE    IRISH    PATRIOTS.  237 

a  force  as  this,  the  peril  from  French  cruisers  and 
American  privateers  vanished.  But  now  Grattan 
had,  in  the  Volunteers,  a  powerful  instrument  for 
extorting  concessions  from  the  English  crown.  The 
Volunteers  were  one  and  all  fervent  patri-  The  voiun- 
ots.  They  were  an  armed  and  organized  *""• 
mass  of  men,  who  were  resolved  to  obtain  their 
country's  rights.  Thus  supported,  Grattan  entered 
promptly  upon  the  execution  of  his  designs.  He  first 
demanded  that  Ireland  should  have  the  right  to  trade 
in  perfect  freedom  with  the  colonies.  The  govern- 
ment, overawed  by  the  Volunteers,  yielded  to  the 
demand.  Then  Grattan  took  a  bolder  and  far  more 
important  step.  He  proposed  in  the  Irish  House  of 
Commons,  that  "  the  king,  lords,  and  commons  were 
the  only  powers  competent  to  pass  laws  for  Ireland." 
This  meant  that  thenceforth  the  English  Parliament 
should  have  no  right  to  make  any  laws  for  Ireland, 
or  in  any  way  change  the  laws  passed  by  the  Irish 
Parliament.  It  was,  in  fact,  a  proposal  to  repeal  the 
act  of  George  the  First,  which  had  made  the  English 
Parliament  supreme  in  the  making  of  Irish  laws. 

The  formidable  organized  power  of  the  V^olunteers 
enabled  Grattan,  within  a  year,  to  achieve  his  great 
triumph,  and  to  obtain  a  free  and  indepen-  Q^att^n  ob- 
dent  Parliament  for  the    Irish.     England  tains  a  free 

,•11     •  1         1     •         -1  A  •  Parliament. 

was  still  involved   in    the  American  war, 
which  was  crippling  her  resources,  and  depriving  her 
of  the  military  strength  which  would  be  necessary  to 
put  down  the  Volunteers,  and  so  recover  her  grasp 


238  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

upon  Ireland.  Grattan's  bill  was  passed,  and  Eng- 
land was  compelled  to  give  full  powers  to  the  Irish 
Parliament  (1782).  But  great  as  this  triumph  was, 
it  was  not  yet  complete.  The  Irish  Parliament  still 
consisted  of  Protestants  only,  and  was  elected  by 
Protestants  only.  The  Irish  Catholics,  although  they 
comprised  nearly  five-sixths  of  the  population,  could 
neither  sit  as  members  nor  vote  for  members.  Yet 
it  was  a  very  important  step  to  get  rid  of  the  English 
power  of  legislating  for  Ireland,  and  of  dictating  what 
laws  the  Irish  Parliament  should  pass. 


THE    FREE    PARLIAMENT.  239 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

THE    FREE    PARLIAMENT. 

AN  Irish  Parliament,  with  full  power  to  make 
laws  for  Ireland,  and  freed  at  last  from  English 
control,  now  met  in  Dublin  (1783).  Its  first  impor- 
tant act  was  to  consider  a  measure  of  parliamen- 
tary reform.  The  Irish  House  of  Com-  ^^^  j^..^^ 
mons  was  not  only  defective  in  that  it  House  of 
consisted  of  and  was  elected  solely  by  °'"™°"^* 
Protestants.  Of  its  three  hundred  members,  at  least 
one  hundred  were  chosen  by  the  influence  or  the 
direct  orders  of  the  great  landlords.  It  was  thus,  to  a 
large  degree,  subject  to  the  will  of  the  aristocracy.  As 
soon,  therefore,  as  the  new  and  free  Parliament  had 
assembled,  some  of  its  leading  spirits  proposed  that 
these  defects  in  the  House  should  be  remedied,  that 
the  Catholics  should  be  admitted  to  the  suffrage,  and 
that  the  influence  of  the  landlords  in  the  selection 
of  members  should  be  curtailed.  Grattan  was  still 
the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  the  House.  His 
genius  and  eloquence  were  still  unrivalled.  Flood 
was  also  a  member ;  and,  in  spite  of  his  holding  an 
ofilice  under  the  crown,  was,  curiously  enough,  more 


240         YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

earnest  in  his  zeal  for  reform  than  his  great 
rival.  Among  the  other  patriots,  the  earl  of 
Charlemont  and  the  earl  of  Bristol  (the  latter  of 
whom  was  also  the  Protestant  bishop  of  Derry) 
were  eminent. 

Each  of  these  four  —  Grattan,  Flood,  Charlemont, 
and  Bristol  —  was  the  leader  of  a  party  by  itself. 
Four  Irish  Grattan  wished  not  only  to  reform  the 
Parties.  House  of  Commons,  and  admit  the  Catho- 

lics to  the  right  to  vote,  but  he  desired  to  show  grati- 
tude to  and  confidence  in  the  good  faith  of  England, 
by  disbanding  the  Volunteers.  Flood  was  an  advo- 
cate of  reform,  but  opposed  Catholic  suffrage,  and 
was  eager  that  the  Volunteers  should  continue  in  ex- 
istence. Charlemont  favored  the  disbandment,  but 
was  hostile  to  Catholic  suffrage.  Bristol  was  in  favor 
of  keeping  the  Volunteers,  and  granting  the  vote  to 
the  Catholics.  After  a  bitter  contest,  the  House  of 
Commons  refused  to  pass  the  reform  bill,  although  it 
was  loudly  demanded  by  the  people.  The  Volunteers 
were  soon  after  disbanded  and  dispersed.  But  they 
gave  place  to  another  patriotic  society,  which  was 
destined  to  play  a  notable  part  in  the  following  years. 
The  United  This  was  the  society  of  the  "  United  Irish- 
irishmen.  men."  It  was  composed  of  men  from  all 
parts  of  Ireland,  Protestant  and  Catholic.  Its  ob- 
jects were  to  secure  a  complete  reform  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  to  unite  Irishmen  of  all  creeds  and 
political  beliefs  in  harmony  and  patriotic  action,  to 
get  rid  of  the  feuds  and  dissensions  which  divided 


Wolfe  Tone. 


THE    FREE    PARLIAMENT.  24I 

Irishmen,  and  to  make  more  secure  and  ample  the 
liberties  which  Ireland  had  already  won. 

At  the  head  of  the  United  Irishmen  were  two 
Protestants,  Hamilton  Rowan  and  James  Tandy. 
Its  leading  spirit  was  Wolfe  Tone,  a  cour- 
ageous and  enthusiastic  young  lawyer. 
Grattan  held  aloof  from  the  movement  ;  but  it  ex- 
tended very  rapidly  throughout  Ireland,  and  soon 
became,  as  the  Volunteers  had  been,  a  formidable 
force.  At  first  the  United  Irishmen  professed  loyal- 
ty to  the  English  crown.  They  declared  that  they 
only  intended  to  carry  on  a  peaceful  agitation  to 
obtain  further  reforms.  But  in  course  of  time, 
events  took  place  which  led  the  society  to  inspire  a 
revolt,  with  a  view  to  achieving  the  complete  inde- 
pendence of  Ireland.  During  the  first  few  years 
after  the  Irish  Parliament  became  free,  Ireland  ap- 
peared to  be  entering  upon  a  career  of  unheard-of 
prosperity.  Trade  revived,  and  the  cities  Revival  of 
and  chief  towns  assumed  the  aspect  of  *''^^^- 
active  business  and  thrift.  The  state  of  things  in 
the  country  districts  did  not,  however,  greatly  im- 
prove ;  and  so  great  did  the  disturbances  become, 
that  the  Irish  Parliament  was  forced  to  pass  a  severe 
"coercion"  law,  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  order. 

Several  serious  contentions,  moreover,  arose  be- 
tween England  and  Ireland.  There  were  disputes  as 
to  the  conditions  of  Irish  trade ;  and  when  George 
the  Third  became  insane,  and  it  was  proposed  to 
make   his  eldest   son,   the  prince   of  Wales,   regent 


242         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

of  the  kingdom,  the  Irish  took  sides  with  the  prince, 
and  against  Pitt,  who  was  then  prime  minister. 
This  aroused  Pitt's  hostiUty,  and  was  one  of  the 
causes  which  led  him  later  to  destroy  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment altogether.  But  the  Irish  Parliament,  during 
its  brief  existence,  adopted  some  enlightened  and 
tolerant  measures.  Grattan  succeeded  in  carrying  a 
Catholic  ^^^^  ^^  allow  CathoUcs  to  practise  as  law- 
suffrage  yers ;  and  a  little  later  he  secured  to 
Catholics  the  right  to  vote  for  members 
of  Parliament  (1793).  An  agitation  now  sprang  up 
to  obtain  for  the  Catholics  the  right  also  to  sit  in 
Parliament,  and  to  hold  civil  and  military  offices. 
Even  Pitt,  who  had  never  been  friendly  to  Ireland, 
seemed  inclined  to  yield  to  this  demand.  He  sent 
earl  Fitzwilliam,  an  enlightened  and  liberal  states- 
man, to  Dublin  as  lord-lieutenant :  and  the  Irish 
were  encouraged  to  believe  that  full  political  rights 
would  at  last  be  allowed  to  the  Catholics. 

Their  hopes  were  frustrated  by  the  obstinacy  of 
George  the  Third.  He  utterly  refused  to  consent 
that  the  Irish  Catholics  should  have  the  rights  they 
demanded.  This  compelled  Pitt  to  once  more  change 
his  policy.  He  recalled  the  liberal  Fitzwilliam,  and 
appointed  Clare,  an  avowed  enemy  of  the  Irish  re- 
form, in  his  place.  Then,  by  bribery  and  corrup- 
tion, Pitt  induced  the  Irish  Parliament  to  reject  the 
bill  which  removed  the  restrictions  upon  the  Catho- 
lics. The  patriotic  Grattan  did  not  yet  wholly  de- 
spair.    Once  more  he  brought  a  reform  bill  into  the 


THE    FREE    PARLIAMENT.  243 

Irish  House  of  Commons,  and  was  most  eloquently 
aided  by  the  young  Irish  orator,  John  Phil-  Defeat  of 
pott  Curran  (1797).  But  this  last  heroic  ^^^°^'^- 
attempt  to  save  Ireland  from  anarchy  or  renewed 
slavery  was  not  successful.  The  Irish  Parliament 
was  corrupt,  and  had  now  become  the  mere  tool  of 
Pitt  and  the  English  influence.  The  failure  to  re- 
form it,  and  make  it  representative  of  the  whole 
people,  had  brought  about  this  wretched  condition 
of  affairs.  Grattan  in  despair  retired  from  taking 
further  part  in  public  life,  and  left  Ireland  to  the 
leadership  of  more  fiery  spirits. 

The  final  defeat  of  all  reform,  the  failure  of  the 
Catholics  to  obtain  their  political  rights,  the  now 
complete  subserviency  of  the  Irish  Parliament  to  the 
will  of  Pitt,  caused  the  society  of  United  Irishmen 
to  make  an  entire  change  of  attitude,  preparations 
Their  gatherings  became  secret.  Their  ^°'"  '■^^o'*- 
adherents  were  busily  armed  and  drilled  in  out-of-the- 
way  places.  They  were  joined  by  many  men  of 
ability,  rank,  and  influence,  who  had  hitherto  held 
aloof  from  it.  Prominent  among  these  new  recruits 
were  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  a  brilliant  lawyer;  lord 
Edward  Fitzgerald,  a  brother  of  the  then  duke  of  Lein- 
ster ;  and  Arthur  O'Connor,  a  member  of  the  Irish 
House  of  Commons.  The  French  revolution  had 
inspired  the  United  Irishmen  with  a  longing  and  a 
desire  to  throw  off  the  British  yoke,  as  the  French 
had  got  rid  of  their  kings  and  nobles.  France,  more- 
over, was  now  at  war  with  England  ;  and  the  leaders 


244         YOUNG    people's    history    of    IRELAND. 

of  the  impending  Irish  revolt  beheved  that  French 
arms  and  money  would  come  to  their  aid  when  the 
signal  for  open  rebellion  was  given. 

Wolfe  Tone  was,  from  the  first,  the  most  active 
and  energetic  of  the  leaders  of  the  United  Irishmen. 
His  operations,  and  those  of  the  society,  were  made 
known  to  Pitt  by  the  spies  whom  he  had  sent  to  Ire- 
land ;  and  Tone  was  forced  to  fly.  He  crossed  the 
Atlantic  to  the  United  States.  But  he  had  by  no 
means  given  up  the  cause  of  his  country.  He  soon 
returned  over  the  ocean  to  France,  and  there  pleaded 
eloquently  for  assistance  on  behalf  of  the  Irish. 
French  aid  Mcauwhilc  the  morc  disaffected  parts  of 
secured.  Ireland  were  put  under  martial  law  ;  the 

militiamen,  under  English  command,  were  quartered 
in  the  houses  of  the  Catholics,  and  committed  many 
robberies  and  gross  cruelties  ;  and  the  Irish  were 
once  more  becoming  desperate  to  revenge  themselves 
upon  their  foreign  masters.  The  French,  yielding 
to  Tone's  entreaties,  supplied  him  with  a  fleet,  ten 
thousand  soldiers,  and  a  large  quantity  of  stores, 
arms,  and  ammunition.  But  now  the  elements  inter- 
vened to  dash  the  hopes  ^of  the  Irish  patriots.  As 
the  friendly  French  ships  approached  the  Irish  coast, 
a  great  wind-storm  arose.  The  fleet  was  scattered, 
and  for  weeks  floated  helplessly  about,  unable  to 
effect  a  landing ;  and  at  last,  in  despair,  returned  to 
France.  But  the  bold  spirit  of  Wolfe  Tone  was  still 
undespairing.  He  was  resolved  to  struggle  for  Irish 
liberty  to  the  last. 


THE    INSURRECTION    OF    NINETY-EIGHT.  245 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

THE    INSURRECTION    OF    NINETY-EIGHT. 

THE  failure  of  the  French  expedition  did  not  put 
an  end  to  the  revolt  of  the  United  Irishmen. 
Wolfe  Tone  next  resorted  to  Holland,  which  country, 
like  France,  was  then  hostile  to  England.  A  large 
force  was  collected,  and  a  Dutch  squadron  was  made 
ready  to  sail  for  Ireland.  But  now,  again,  a  series 
of  high  gales  swept  over  the  German  Ocean  and  the 
English  Channel,  and  the  ships  lay  helpless  in  their 
harbor.  When  at  last  they  sallied  forth,  they  were 
easily  taken  by  the  English  admiral  Duncan.  The 
failure  of  the  attempts  to  procure  foreign  help  threw 
the  United  Irishmen  upon  their  own  resources. 
They  might  have  become  disheartened,  had  it  not 
been  that  the  cruelties  and  severities  of  the  English 
officials  and  soldiers  in  Ireland  kept  the  spirit  of 
resistance  aflame.  The  whole  island  was  honey- 
combed with  English  spies,  and  with  base  iHsh  trai- 
Irishmen,  who,  for  offices  and  money,  were  ^°^^' 
eager  to  betray  their  patriot  fellow-countrymen. 
There  were  traitors  in  the  very  meetings  of  the 
United    Irishmen,  who    hastened    away   from    those 


246         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

meetings  to  reveal  what  had  been  done,  to  the  Eng- 
lish authorities  in  Dublin  castle. 

Many  of  the  leading  patriots  were  seized  and 
thrown  into  prison.  They  were  tried  before  packed 
juries,  who  were  sometimes  plied  with  drink,  in  order 
that  they  might  bring  in  verdicts  against  the  accused. 
Martial  law  was  proclaimed  in  the  counties  where 
the  insurgents  were  most  numerous  and  formidable. 
The  counties  of  Kildare  and  Wexford  were  sternly 
subjected  to  this  law.  Irishmen  were  condemned  to 
death  upon  the  evidence  of  paid  spies  and  traitors, 
and  upon  the  conviction  of  corrupted  juries.  The 
Atrocities  of  English  troops  in  Ireland  were  guilty  of 
English  barbarous  atrocities.     When  the   humane 

roops.  gj^  Ralph  Abercrombie  took  command  of 

the  army  in  Ireland,  he  wrote  back  to  England  that 
"  houses  have  been  burned,  men  murdered,  others 
half  hanged.  A  young  lady  has  been  carried  off  by 
a  detachment  of  dragoons ;  and,  in  the  room  where  she 
was,  an  officer  was  shot  through  the  thigh.  These 
are  but  a  few  of  the  enormities  which  have  disgraced 
us  of  late ;  were  the  whole  to  be  collected,  what  a  pic- 
ture it  would  present !  Within  these  twelve  months, 
every  crime,  every  cruelty,  that  could  be  committed 
by  Cossacks  or  Calmucks  has  been  committed  here." 
Abercrombie  tried  to  put  a  stop  to  the  outrages 
committed  by  the  soldiers,  and  to  restore  discipline 
and  obedience  to  the  English  troops.  But  the  vio- 
lent enemies  of  Ireland,  aided  by  earl  Camden,  the 
lord-lieutenant,  were  too  strong  for  him  ;  and  he  was 


THE    INSURRECTION    OF    NINETY-EIGHT.  247 

forced  to  give  over  his  command  to  General  Lake. 
This  general  was  stern  and  severe ;  and  winked  at,  if 
he  did  not  sanction,  the  cruelties  which  his  soldiers 
committed  upon  the  Irish.  The  poor  peasants,  many 
of  whom  were  wholly  guiltless  of  rebellion,  were 
flogged  and  shot,  or  their  wretched  huts  were  burned 
over  their  heads.  Men  were  subjected  to  barbarous 
tortures,  to  compel  them  to  betray  the  wholesale 
designs  and  hiding-places  of  the  patriots,  violence. 
If  any  man  ventured  to  wear  a  sprig  of  green,  the 
Irish  color,  he  was  subjected  to  persecution  and  vio- 
lence :  even  women,  for  this  act,  were  insulted  and 
infamously  treated.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  United 
Irishmen  to  have  their  hair  cropped  close  to  their 
heads.  If  any  man,  therefore,  was  found  with  his  hair 
cut  short,  the  brutal  British  soldiers  would  cover  his 
head  with  pitch,  and  put  a  paper  cap  thereon,  which 
could  not  be  removed  without  tearing  the  scalp. 

All  these  things  incensed  the  Irish,  and  drove 
them  by  thousands  into  the  ranks  of  the  United 
Irishmen.  The  chiefs  of  the  society  resolved  upon 
a  general  rising  throughout  the  country.  But  the 
government  spies  were  not  idle.  A  meeting  of  the 
Irish  leaders  in  Dublin  was  betrayed  by  an  informer, 
and  surprised  by  a  posse  of  soldiers  from  the  castle ; 
and  fourteen  of  them  were  captured.  Soon  after, 
Thomas    Addis    Emmet,    Sampson,    and   _    ^       , 

'  ^  '  Capture  of 

McNevin    were     taken.      Lord     Edward  Emmet  and 
Fitzgerald  was  still  at  large,  and  was  all     *  '^^^^ 
the  more  resolved,  after  the  arrest  of  his  colleagues. 


248  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

to  kindle  an  insurrection.  But  he,  too,  was  soon 
betrayed.  The  lord-Heutenant  was  informed  that 
Fitzgerald  was  concealed  in  the  house  of  a  certain 
feather-merchant.  A  party  of  soldiers  was  at  once 
sent  to  seize  him.  When  they  entered  his  room,  the 
brave  patriot  sprang  upon  them  with  a  long  dagger. 
He  was  desperately  wounded,  however,  and  was 
dragged  away  to  prison,  where  he  died  of  his  wounds 
in  a  few  days. 

The   revolt  was  deprived  of   its  gallant  and  able 
leaders  ;  yet,  in  many  places,  the  rising  took  place  as 
had  been  planned.     The  scattered  companies  of  sol- 
diers and  militia-men,  spread  throuo;h  the 

Fierce  strug-  '      r-  o 

gies  of  the  country  as  garrisons,  were  assailed  by  the 
insurgents,      flgj-^g^  undisciplincd  United  Irishmen.     In 

some  places  the  companies  were  overcome,  and  their 
posts  occupied  by  the  insurgents.  Then  followed 
scenes  of  savage  carnage  and  destruction,  visited  by 
the  victors  upon  the  soldiers,  and  upon  the  partisans 
of  England,  in  the  districts  round  about.  In  other 
places  the  English  troops  held  their  own,  and  the 
insurgents  were  driven  off  with  savage  slaughter. 
Martial  law  was  proclaimed  in  Dublin  ;  and  this 
saved  the  capital  from  a  rising  of  the  United  Irish- 
men within  its  limits.  The  insurrection  was  the 
most  obstinate  and  the  most  prolonged  in  the  county 
of  Wexford.  It  held  out  there  after  Ulster  and 
Meath  had  been  reduced  to  complete  subjection  by 
the  English  troops.  At  first  the  Wexford  rebels 
won  some  notable  victories.     They  defeated  the  mili- 


Capture  of  Fitzgerald.  —  Page  24S. 


THE    INSURRECTION    OF    NINETY-EIGHT.  249 

tia  at  Oulart,  took  Ferns,  where  they  burned  the  Pro- 
testant   bishop's    palace ;    and,    gathering  The  irish  at 
strength  as  they  advanced,  at  last  entered  wexford. 
the  town  of  Wexford  itself. 

In  no  long  time  the  entire  country,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  towns  of  Duncannon  and  New  Ross, 
was  in  the  rebels'  hands.  They  desperately  attacked 
New  Ross,  but  without  success.  Some  of  the  wild- 
est of  the  rebel  spirits  wreaked  their  vengeance  upon 
a  party  of  Protestant  men  and  women  who  were  col- 
lected for  safety  in  a  house  and  barn  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. Many  of  these  were  shot,  or  killed  with  pikes  ; 
the  rest  were  burned  in  the  barn  where  they  were 
huddled  together.  This  atrocious  act  was  done  with- 
out the  knowledge  of  Harvey,  the  commander  of  the 
insurgents  ;  who,  when  he  heard  of  it,  denounced  it 
with  warm  indignation.  He  was  soon  after  suc- 
ceeded in  the  command  by  a  warlike  priest.  Father 
Philip  Roche.  Some  minor  successes  emboldened 
the  insurgents  to  advance  northward.  Thirty  thou- 
sand of  these  marched  on  Arklow,  which  Battle  of 
was  held  by  a  strong  English  garrison.  Arkiow. 
At  the  head  of  these  insurgents  was  Father  Michael 
Murphy.  They  attacked  the  defences  of  the  town 
with  furious  valor. 

At  one  time  the  rebels  seemed  on  the  point  of 
victory  ;  but,  in  the  midst  of  the  fray.  Murphy  fell, 
fatally  wounded.  His  men,  disheartened  by  this 
event,  slowly  and  sadly  withdrew,  and  the  English 
remained  masters  of  the  town.     The  battle  of  Ark- 


250         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

low  was  the  turning-point  of  the  insurrection.  The 
Irish  now  retired  to  two  camps,  —  one  on  the  hill  of 
Lacken,  and  the  other  on  Vinegar  hill,  near  Ennis- 
corthy.  There  they  remained  inactive,  sending  for- 
aging parties  through  the  neighboring  districts  to 
collect  provisions,  and  awaiting  a  favorable  moment 
for  resuming  the  offensive.  But  that  moment  never 
came.  Heavy  re-enforcements  soon  arrived  from 
England,  and  the  English  generals  resolved  to  at 
once  advance  upon  the  rebels  in  their  camps.  At 
the  head  of  the  English  was  the  relentless  General 
Lake.  The  Irish,  under  Roche,  when  they  heard  of 
the  advance  of  the  English,  retreated  from  Lacken 
hill,  and  succeeded  in  reaching  Wexford  in  safety. 
The  other  Irish  stronghold  near  Vinegar  hill  re- 
mained. The  English  troops  closed  in  upon  it.  They 
Defeat  at  drovc  the  Irish,  who  fought  with  desper- 
vinegar         atc  but  usclcss  couragc,  out  of  Enniscor- 

Hill 

thy  up  the  hill.  A  terrible  battle  ensued. 
At  last  the  Irish  were  forced  to  evacuate  the  hill, 
and  to  seek  refuge,  like  their  comrades  of  the  Lacken 
camp,  in  Wexford  (June  21,  1798). 

Already  the  position  of  the  Irish  at  Wexford  had 
been  attacked ;  and,  when  the  news  of  the  defeat  at 
Vinegar  hill  arrived,  the  Irish  abandoned  the  town. 
The  various  Irish  forces  now  retired  into  the  inte- 
rior, and  were  broken  up  into  marauding  bands.  The 
vengeance  of  the  English  upon  the  defeated  Irish 
was  swift  and  terrible.  The  soldiers  and  militia  vied 
with  each  other  in  the  excess  of  their  atrocities.     A 


THE    INSURRECTION    OF    NINETY-EIGHT.  25 1 

hospital  containing  a  number  of  wounded  Irish  was 
burned  with  its  inmates.  Parties  of  miUtiamen  rode 
about  the  country  shootino^  all,  even  women,   . 

J  c>         J  y     Lawlessness 

whom  they  chanced  to  meet.  The  houses  of  the 
were  robbed  of  all  articles  of  value.  Court-  "^  *^ 
martials  sat  in  the  towns,  and  those  whom  they  con- 
demned were  hurried  in  batches  to  execution.  Many 
of  the  leaders  of  the  revolt  were  hung  in  Dublin. 
Among  those  who  thus  suffered  were  Roche,  Kelly, 
Murphy,  and  Harvey.  Others  were  mercilessly 
flogged  with  the  cat-o'-nine-tails.  Hundreds  of  per- 
fectly innocent  persons  were  subjected  to  the  brutal 
violence  of  the  triumphant  English. 


252         YOUNG   people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

THE    UNION    OF     THE    PARLIAMENTS. 

THE  last  event  of  the  insurrection  was  the  ar- 
rival of  a  small  French  fleet  off  the  Irish  coast 
(October,  1798).  On  board  one  of  the  ships  was  the 
unconquerable  Wolfe  Tone,  whose  spirit  had  not 
been  subdued  even  by  the  crushing  defeats  of  Vine- 
gar Hill  and  Wexford.  The  French  fleet  was  en- 
countered by  some  English  men-of-war,  and  an 
obstinate  sea-fight  ensued.  The  "  Hoche,"  the  ship 
which  carried  Tone,  coped  gallantly  with  four  English 
frigates  at  once.  The  result  of  the  battle,  however, 
was  the  utter  defeat  of  the  invading  fleet.  Tone 
Fate  of  was  taken  prisoner,  and  attempted  to  pass 

Wolfe  Tone,  himsclf  off  as  a  French  officer.  But  he 
was  soon  recognized,  and  carried  captive  to  Dublin. 
He  was  condemned  to  be  hung.  But  his  proud  soul 
revolted  from  a  death  so  disgraceful,  and  he  cut  his 
throat  in  his  cell.  The  last  spark  of  the  insurrection 
went  out  with  Tone's  heroic  life.  The  United  Irish- 
men ceased  to  exist,  and  in  every  part  of  the  island 
submission  was  made  to  the  English  power. 

Meanwhile  William  Pitt,  the  English  prime  minis- 


THE    UNION    OF    THE    PARLIAMENTS.  253 

ter,  had  made  up  his  mind  that  the  time  had  come  to 
execute  a  design  which  had  for  some  time  occupied 
his  thoughts.  This  was,  to  abolish  the  Pitt's  project 
Irish  Parliament  altogether,  to  make  the  °^  ""'°°- 
British  Parliament  the  sole  law-making  body  for 
the  three  kingdoms,  and  to  give  Ireland  the  right  to 
send  members  to  the  British  Houses  of  Lords  and 
Commons.  His  decision  was  undoubtedly  hastened 
by  the  great  insurrection  which  had  now  been  so 
bloodily  subdued.  But  his  object  could  only  be  car- 
ried out  by  consent  of  the  Irish  Parliament  itself. 
The  Irish  Parliament  must  be  persuaded  to  take  its 
own  life,  since  no  act  of  the  British  Parliament  alone 
could  bind  it  or  destroy  it.  With  a  view  to  carrying 
out  his  purpose,  Pitt  recalled  lord  Camden,  who  had 
been  lord-lieutenant  through  the  insurrection,  and 
who  was  lacking  in  energy,  and  appointed  in  his 
place  the  marquis  Cornwallis  (the  same  comwaius 
who  had  surrendered  to  Washington  at  as  lord- 
Yorktown).  Lord  Castlereagh,  a  selfish  *^"  ^"^" ' 
and  ambitious  Irishman,  was  named  as  Cornwallis's 
chief  secretary ;  and  lord  Clare,  who  was  a  resolute 
supporter  of  Pitt's  plan,  was  continued  in  the  office 
of  Irish  lord-chancellor. 

Cornwallis  was  not  only  an  able,  but  a  kind-hearted 
and  justly  disposed  man.  He  revolted  from  the 
brutal  methods  by  which  vengeance  had  been  visited 
upon  the  conquered  Irish.  He  hated  the  floggings, 
the  burnings,  the  plundering,  the  wholesale  execu- 
tions, which  were  going  on  in  Ireland.      He  resolved 


254         YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND, 

upon  a  milder  course.  He  proclaimed  that  all  rebels, 
except  the  leaders,  who  would  take  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance and  submit  to  the  government,  should  be  pro- 
tected. He  caused  an  act  of  amnesty  to  be  passed, 
which  gave  pardon  to  the  great  mass  of  those  who 
had  been  in  insurrection.  He  restored,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, order  and  discipline  among  the  English  troops 
in  Ireland ;  and  resolutely  put  a  stop  to  the  acts  of 
violence  in  which  the  EngUsh  soldiers  had  been 
revelling.  So  lenient  and  humane,  indeed,  was  the 
rule  of  Cornwallis,  that  he  roused  the  easily-evoked 
gratitude  of  the  Irish  people,  who  cried  out,  *'  God 
bless  you!  "  as  he  passed  through  the  Dublin  streets. 

The  project  of  William  Pitt  to  get  rid  of  the  Irish 
Parliament,  and  to  make  the  British  Parliament  the 
Irish  opposi.  sole  legislative  body  for  the  three  king- 
tion  to  union,  (joms,  arouscd  intense  opposition  in  Ire- 
land. Protestants  and  Catholics,  peers  and  land-own- 
ers, tradesmen,  farmers,  and  peasants  alike,  protested 
against  it.  It  would  reduce  the  power  of  the  nobili- 
ty ;  it  would  ruin  trade  ;  it  would  bind  Ireland  hand 
and  foot  to  England  ;  it  would  take  away  the  last 
vestiges  of  Irish  independence.  These  were  among 
the  reasons  urged  by  Irishmen  of  both  faiths,  and  of 
every  social  rank,  against  the  "  union."  On  the  other 
hand,  Pitt  promised  that,  if  the  union  were  achieved, 
the  Irish  Catholics  should  not  only  have  the  vote, 
but  should  be  "emancipated;"  that  is,  should  be 
admitted  as  members  of  Parliament,  and  should  have 
the  right  to  hold  military  and  civil  offices.     The  chief 


THE    UNION    OF    THE    PARLIAMENTS.  255 

reason  which  he  gave  for  the  union  was,  that  it  would 
secure  England  from  an  invasion  of  the  French  by 
way  of  Ireland  ;  but  this  reason  he  urged  to  obtain 
English,  and  not  Irish,  support  to  his  design. 

Cornwallis,  the  lord-lieutenant,  Clare,  the  lord- 
chancellor,  and  Castlereagh,  the  chief  secretary  of 
Ireland,  were  the  three  assents  upon  whom   _^ 

'  _  &  1  The   promot- 

Pitt  relied  to  induce  the  Irish  Parliament  ersofthe 
to  give  up  its  existence,  and  to  assent  to  ""'°"- 
the  legislative  union.  Cornwallis  hated  the  work 
thus  committed  to  him,  but  undertook  it  because  he 
was  convinced  that  the  union  was  necessary  to  the 
power  of  the  British  empire.  His  two  colleagues 
were  less  scrupulous,  and  entered  upon  their  task 
with  eager  energy.  The  method  by  which  the  Irish 
Parliament  was  to  be  extinguished,  was  one  of  sheer 
bribery  and  corruption.  The  union  was  to  be  ob- 
tained by  downright  force  and  fraud.  No  means, 
however  bad,  were  to  be  left  untried  to  compel  or  in- 
duce the  Irish  members  in  both  Houses  to  agree  to 
it.      What    removal    from    office,    threats, 

1  r  11  1         T    •    1       Methods 

the  grant  or  peerages,  could  not  do,  Irish   adopted  to 
money  was    to    be  freely  spent  in  doing,    secure  the 

"^  •'  .  union. 

Never  did  the  officials  of  a  great  nation 
descend  to  methods  more  base  to  reach  the  end 
they  had  in  view.  The  wish  of  the  overwhelming  ma- 
jority of  the  Irish  people,  who  ardently  longed  to 
retain  what  liberties  they  had,  was  to  be  overcome 
by  pandering  to  the  fears  and  the  avarice  of  their 
representatives. 


256         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

The  first  attempt  to  bring  about  the  union,  how- 
ever, failed.  The  Irish  Parliament  was  summoned 
(Jan.  22,  1799) ;  and  in  the  "speech  from  the  throne," 
delivered  at  the  opening  of  its  session,  the  project  of 
the  union  was  vaguely  mentioned.  This  at  once 
aroused  its  patriotic  opponents.  A  long  and  tem- 
pestuous debate  followed.  Among  the  ardent  speak- 
ers against  the  measure  was  Sir  John  Parnell, — a 
name  destined  to  be  identified,  in  later  years,  with  a 
far  more  formidable  struggle  in  behalf  of  Irish  liberty. 
^.  .J  r    .     At  last  a  vote  was  taken,  and  the  project 

First  defeat  ^^     -'^ 

of  the  pro-  of  uuiou  was  defeated  by  five  majority. 
J^'^*-  Pqj-  ^  while  it  seemed   as  if    Pitt's  plan 

would  fail ;  and  there  was  great  rejoicing  among  the 
Irish  patriots  everywhere.  But  now  began  the  vigor- 
ous application  of  fraud,  force,  and  corruption. 
Those  officials  who  were  opposed  to  the  union  were 
turned  out  of  their  places.  A  large  number  of  the 
boroughs,  which  chose  members  to  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment, were  in  reality  owned  by  noblemen  and  great 
land-owners  ;  and  the  seats  had  long  been  purchased 
and  sold  for  money.  Castlereagh  agreed  to  buy  out 
these  owners  of  seats,  and  to  pay  for  each  seat  the 
sum  of  ;£ 1 5,000. 

In  this  way,  no  less  than  eighty-five  seats  were 
bought  by  the  government,  at  a  cost  of  ^1,950,000; 

Purchase  of  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  chargcd  upou  the  Irish 
parliament-  rcvenuc.  Ouc  uoblcmau,  the  marquis  of 
ary  sea  s.  -gj^^  rcccived  ;£45,ooo  for  the  six  boroughs 
he  owned;  and  another,  the  marquis  of  Downshire, 


THE    UNION    OF    THE    PARLIAMENTS.  25/ 

received  ;£5  2,000  for  his  seven.  Twenty-two  oppo- 
nents of  the  union  were  bribed  by  English  titles  of 
nobility  ;  twenty-two  more  were  raised  in  rank  in 
the  Irish  peerage ;  and  many  were  rewarded  for 
betraying  their  country,  and  favoring  the  union,  by 
judgeships,  offices,  pensions,  and  army  commissions. 
Even  some  of  the  bishops  and  clergy,  both  Protes- 
tant and  Catholic,  were  bribed  by  rectorships,  sti- 
pends, and  other  appointments.  The  Protestant 
church  was  persuaded  by  the  promise  that  it  should 
be  established  forever  as  the  state  church  of  Ireland. 
The  way  being  thus  prepared,  the  Irish  Parliament 
was  once  more  called  together  (January,  1800),  and 
the  subject  of  the  union  was  once  more  promptly 
brought  before  it. 

For  a  long  time,  little  had  been  heard  or  seen  of 
Henry  Grattan,  the  eloquent  patriot  who  had  secured 
the  independence  of  the  Irish  Parliament  eight  years 
before.      He    had    held    aloof    from    the  „ 

Re-appear- 

United  Irishmen,  and  had  taken  no  part  ance  of 
in  the  great  insurrection.  He  had  be- 
come broken  in  health,  and  had  nearly  passed  out  of 
the  minds  of  men.  But  now,  at  this  great  crisis  in 
Ireland's  history,  when  the  liberties  for  which  he 
had  successfully  fought  were  about  to  be  wrested 
from  her,  Grattan  once  more  appeared  upon  the 
scene.  A  seat  in  the  House  of  Commons  was  se- 
cured for  him  at  Wicklow.  Feeble  with  illness,  the 
great  patriot  dragged  himself  into  the  House  to 
make  a  last   appeal  for  his  unhappy  country.      He 


258         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

was  too  weak  to  stand,  and  so  spoke  sitting  in  his 
chair.  As  he  went  on,  his  voice  gradually  gathered 
strength,  and  he  poured  forth  his  vehement  sentences 
with  all  his  wonted  fire. 

But  Grattan's  fervid  eloquence  was  of  no  avail. 
After  a  series  of  hot  debates,  and  after  vote  after 
The  union  votc  had  shown  that  the  unionists  were 
carried.  j^  g^  large  majority,  the  bill  abolishing  the 

Irish  Parliament,  and  merging  it  in  that  of  Great 
Britain,  was  adopted  by  the  Irish  House  of  Com- 
mons by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  to 
eighty-eight.  It  soon  after  passed  the  Irish  House 
of  Lords,  was  signed  by  the  king,  and  thereby  be- 
came a  law.  Thus  the  Irish  Parliament  ceased  to 
exist.  It  had  never  truly  represented  the  Irish 
people,  but  only  the  Protestant  and  English  minority 
in  Ireland.  In  its  later  years,  it  had  become  very 
corrupt  and  inefficient.  Its  final  act  was  base  and 
treacherous.  Yet  patriotic  Irishmen  mourned  to 
see  it  become  extinct,  since  it  had  been  the  only 
feeble  barrier  against  complete  English  ascendancy. 

The  most  important  conditions  of  the  union  of  the 
two  Parliaments  into  one,  were  as  follows.  Ireland 
now  sent  one  hundred  members  to  the  British  House 
Conditions  of  Commous.  In  the  British  House  of 
of  the  union.  Lords,  Ireland  was  represented  by  four 
bishops  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church,  and  by 
twenty-eight  peers,  elected  for  life  by  the  whole  body 
of  Irish  peers.  The  number  of  Irish  members  of  the 
Commons  has  since  been  increased  to  one  hundred 


THE    UNION    OF    THE    PARLIAMENTS.  259 

and  three.  The  Protestant-Episcopal  church  was 
estabUshed  as  the  state  church  of  Ireland.  Irish 
peers,  not  elected  among  the  twenty-eight,  were  given 
the  right  to  be  elected  ^nd  to  sit  as  members  of  the 
British  House  of  Commons.  The  British  House  of 
Lords  was  made  the  final  court  of  appeal  from  Irish 
as  well  as  English  courts.  The  national  debts  of  the 
two  islands  were  kept  separate,  and  Ireland  was  now 
required  to  raise  two-fifths  of  the  revenue  of  the 
united  kingdom.  The  debt  created  after  the  union, 
was  made  a  joint  one.  Commercial  equality  was  es- 
tablished between  the  two  islands.  Each  was  for- 
bidden to  impose  any  duty  on  the  goods  produced  by 
the  other.  The  act  of  union  went  into  actual  opera- 
tion on  the  1st  of  January  succeeding  its  passage 
(1801). 


260         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND, 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 


DANIEL    O  CONNELL. 


THE  union  of  the  Parliaments,  obtained  as  it  was 
by  wholesale  force,  fraud,  and  corruption,  caused 
intense  discontent  among  the  Irish  people.  In  less 
than  two  years,  an  attempt  was  made  to  revive  the 
United  Irishmen,  and  a  few  daring  spirits  planned  a 
Robert  rebellion.     Chief  among  these  was  Robert 

Emmet.  Emmet,  a  young  man  of  ardent  temper  and 
fervent  love  of  country.  Emmet  gathered  about  him 
a  few  young  men,  and  one  day  sallied  forth  in  Dub- 
lin at  the  head  of  eighty  adherents,  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  city.  The  people  did  not  respond  to  his 
summons,  and  Emmet  was  forced  to  hide  himself. 
He  might  now  have  escaped  ;  but  he  was  in  love  with 
Sarah  Curran,  the  daughter  of  the  great  Irish  advo- 
cate, John  Philpott  Curran,  and  resolved  to  see  her 
once  more  before  seeking  safety  in  flight.  While 
he  was  awaiting  his  chance  for  an  interview,  he  was 
arrested.  He  was  promptly  tried  for  high  treason, 
and  hung  (1803).  Notwithstanding  the  folly  and 
failure  of  his  attempt,  the  name  of  Robert  Emmet  is 
still  loved  in  Ireland  as  that  of  a  zealous  and  self- 
sacrificing  patriot. 


DANIEL    O'CONNELL.  26l 

The  Irish  Catholics  had  been  promised,  before  the 
union,  that  they  should  be  "emancipated;"  that  is, 
that  the  laws  which  prevented  them  from  voting, 
sitting  as  members  of  Parliament,  and  holding  civil 
and  military  offices,  should  be  done  away  with.  But 
after  the  union,  Pitt  failed  to  redeem  this  promise. 
He  might  have  redeemed  it,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
obstinate  refusal  of  George  the  Third  to  consent  to 
Catholic  emancipation.  The  king  would  not  listen 
to  such  a  thing ;  and  the  result  was,  that  the  rights 
of  the  Irish  Catholics  were  not  conceded  to  them 
until  many  years  after.  There  now  ensued  a  revival 
of  the  acts  of  violence  into  which  the  Irish  Renewed 
always  fell  when  they  despaired  of  getting  lawlessness, 
justice  from  the  laws.  The  Whiteboys  once  more 
came  into  existence  ;  and,  in  various  parts  of  the 
island,  cattle  were  maimed,  houses  were  burned,  and 
landlords  and  their  agents  were  maltreated.  The 
government  met  this  state  of  things  by  passing  a 
severe  '^ coercion  act,"  by  which  the  ordinary  laws 
were  suspended,  and  large  powers  were  given  to  the 
lord-lieutenant  and  the  magistrates.  To  this  were 
added  the  suspension  of  the  habeas  corpus,  and  an 
'''arms  act,"  by  which  the  Irish  were  forbidden  to 
keep  arms,  and  the  authorities  were  empowered  to 
search  houses  for  them. 

Henry  Grattan  was  now  an  old  man.  But,  al- 
though the  Irish  Parliament  which  he  had  estab- 
lished had  been  suppressed,  Grattan's  heart  and 
voice  were  still  devoted  to  his  unhappy  country.     He 


262         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

became  a  member  of  the  British  Parliament,  and 
within  its  walls  eloquently  urged  that  Catholic  eman- 
cipation should  be  granted  to  Ireland.  He  continued 
to  devote  all  his  energies  to  this  object  until  his  death 
(1820).  But  now  a  new  and  still  more  powerful 
champion  of  Irish  rights  was  fast  rising  into  public 
Daniel  uoticc.     This  was  Daniel  O'Connell.     This 

o'Conneii.  great  leader,  who  was  by  profession  a  law- 
yer, and  who  belonged  to  an  old  and  landed  family 
in  south-western  Ireland,  first  came  into  notice  as 
the  chairman  of  a  committee,  whose  purpose  it  was 
to  agitate  before  Parliament  the  Catholic  claim  to 
political  freedom  (1808).  He  was  already  known  as 
an  eloquent  pleader,  with  a  powerful  frame,  a  strong, 
melodious,  sonorous  voice,  and  a  bold  and  vigorous 
temperament.  The  previous  leaders  of  the  Irish 
cause  were  Protestants :  O'Connell  was  a  zealous 
Catholic.  He  was  thirty-five,  in  the  early  prime  of 
his  manhood. 

O'Connell  in  no  long  time  became  the  undisputed 
chief  of  the  Irish  patriots.  At  first  he  hesitated 
whether  to  pursue  an  agitation  to  repeal  the  act  of 
union,  and  restore  the  Irish  Parliament,  or  to  confine 
himself  to  seeking  to  obtain  Catholic  emancipation. 
He  decided  upon  the  latter  course.  A  strong  party 
in  Ireland  was  soon  formed  to  support  him.  Promi- 
nent among  his  adherents  was  Richard  Lalor  Shiel, 
who  was  a  vehement,  eloquent  orator,  and  an  earnest 
patriot ;  and  once  more  the  familiar  name  of  Parnell 
appears,  in    Sir  Henry,  as    a   leader  in    the  patriot 


DANIEL    O'CONNELL.  263 

cause.  The  agitation  for  Catholic  emancipation  be- 
came active  and  formidable,  and  was  continued  with 
ever-increasing  force  for  six  years  (1823-29).  In  the 
mean  time  Ireland  suffered  terribly  from  repeated 
failures  of  the  potato  crop.  The  mass  of  the  Irish 
people  have  always  relied  upon  potatoes  as  their 
principal  food.  Whenever,  therefore,  the  potato 
crop  has  failed,  the  horrors  of  famine  have  followed  ; 
and  to  famine  has  usually  been  added,  in  many  places, 
desperate  deeds  of  violence.  In  one  year  (1822) 
many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Irish  were  fed  daily 
by  charity.  Great  numbers  died  of  downright  star- 
vation ;  and  so  turbulent  was  the  country,  that  a  large 
military  force  was  needed  to  keep  it  from  drifting 
into  anarchy. 

The  first  important  step  which  O'Connell  took 
was  to  form  the  ''Catholic  Association."  The  cathoHc 
This  society  was  organized  to  get  up  pe-  Association, 
titions,  to  arrange  public  meetings,  to  spread  pam- 
phlets, and  to  aid  in  sending  men  to  Parliament  who 
were  in  favor  of  Catholic  emancipation.  Its  mem- 
bers paid  an  annual  assessment  of  a  guinea  ($5.25) ; 
and  it  was  headed  by  a  select  committee,  to  whom 
was  committed  the  work  of  carrying  forward  its 
objects.  In  no  long  time  the  association  contained 
half  a  million  Irishmen.  In  order  to  obtain  funds 
for  keeping  up  the  agitation,  the  Irish  Catholics 
were  asked  to  contribute  a  penny  a  month.  This 
was  called  the  "  Catholic  rent,"  and  soon  produced 
no  less  a  sum  than  five  hundred  pounds  a  week.     So 


264         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

rapidly  did  the  society  increase,  that  the  government 
became  alarmed.  It  was  finally  suppressed  by  law 
(1825).  But  O'Connell  was  equal  to  the  occasion. 
He  simply  changed  the  name  of  the  society,  and 
went  on  with  his  agitation. 

At  last  O'Connell  resorted  to  a  bold  expedient. 
He  desired  to  show  England  that  the  Irish  nation 
demanded  political  liberty  for  the  Catholics.  The 
law  forbade  a  Catholic  to  sit  in  Parliament  ;  but  it 
did  not  say  that  a  Catholic  could  not  be  a  candidate, 
and  be  elected  to  Parliament.  A  vacancy  occurred 
in  the  Irish  county  of  Clare.  O'Connell  suddenly 
presented  himself  as  a  candidate.  After  a  stormy 
contest,  he  was  triumphantly  elected.  But  he  re- 
fused to  take  the  oath  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
for  the  oath  rejected  the  Catholic  faith.  Both  Eng- 
land and  Ireland  were  now  wrought  up  to  a  high 
pitch  of  excitement.  It  was  seen  that,  unless  O'Con- 
nell's  demand  was  conceded,  civil  war  w^ould  ensue. 
The  duke  of  Wellington,  a  Tory,  was  prime  minister. 
^   ,  ,.  In  spite  of  his  dislike  of  Catholic  emanci- 

Cathohc  ^ 

Emancipa-  pation,  he  felt  compelled  to  grant  it.  A 
tion  won.       ^.^^  ^^,^g  brought  in,  which  admitted   the 

Catholics  to  Parliament,  and  to  civil  and  military 
office.  It  passed  both  Houses,  was  signed  by  George 
the  Fourth,  and  became  a  law  of  the  land  (1829). 

By  the  provisions  of  the  new  law  the  oath  which 
compelled  a  Catholic,  before  he  could  sit  in  Parlia- 
ment, to  renounce  his  religion,  was  done  away  with. 
All  he  had  now  to  do  was,  to  swear  that  he  would 


DANIEL   O'CONNELL.  265 

sustain  the  Protestant  succession  and  the  reigning 
dynasty  on  the  throne,  and  that  he  would  not  injure 
the  Protestant  rehgion.  Any  Roman  CathoUc  might 
now  sit  in  either  House  of  ParKament,  except  that 
no  Catholic  priest  could  be  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mons. O'Connell  took  his  seat  as  member  for  Clare. 
His  triumph  was  brilliant,  but  was  not  entirely  com- 
plete ;  for,  while  Parliament  gave  Catholic  emanci- 
pation, it  at  the  same  time  restricted  the  suffrage  in 
Ireland.  Before  the  passage  of  Catholic  emancipa- 
tion, Irishmen  who  held  freehold  estates,  the  rent  of 
which  exceeded  forty  shillings,  could  vote  for  mem- 
bers of  Parliament.  But  now  a  law  was  Qualification 
passed  raising  the  qualification  for  voting  ^°*"  noting:, 
to  ten  pounds  ;  that  is,  no  Irishman  could  now  vote 
in  a  county,  who  did  not  have  an  estate  valued  at  a 
ten-pounds'  rental.  A  few  years  later,  the  ten- 
pounds  qualification  was  extended  to  the  boroughs  as 
well  as  the  counties,  and  thus  included  all  Ireland. 

This  restriction  of  the  Irish  suffrage  deprived 
six-eighths  of  the  former  electors  of  their  votes.  It 
naturally  lessened  the  satisfaction  afforded  by  the 
emancipation  of  the  Catholics.  It  enabled  the  land- 
lords to  deal  more  severely  with  their  tenants,  and 
thus  brought  about  evictions,  distress,  deeds  of  vio- 
lence, and  a  renewal  of  the  harsh  laws  of  coercion. 
Meanwhile  O'Connell  and  his  adherents  did  not  rest 
content  with  the  victory  which  their  boldness  and 
persistency  had  wrung  from  the  British  Parliament. 
The    political    rights    of    the    Catholics    had    been 


2^         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

achieved.  O'Connell  had  learned  the  power  and 
successful  results  of  a  vigorously  sustained  agitation, 
conducted  without  violating  law,  and  without  resort 
to  physical  force.  He  now  resolved  to  apply  this 
effective  method  to  another  and  yet  more  important 
purpose.  This  purpose  was  to  repeal  the  union  of 
the  Parliaments,  to  recall  into  existence  the  separate 
Irish  Parliament,  and  thus  to  restore  to  Ireland  the 
self-government  enjoyed  during  the  last  eight  years 
of  the  eighteenth  century. 


THE    THREE    YEARS'    FAMINE.  267 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

THE  THREE  YEARS*  FAMINE. 

THE  Irish  Catholics,  who  comprised  an  immense 
majority  of  the  country,  had  long  felt  it  a  bitter 
grievance  that  they  were  forced  to  pay  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  Protestant  church.  Under  the  law, 
every  Irishman  was  compelled  to  pay  his  tithe,  or 
the  tenth  part  of  his  cattle,  to  maintain  the  Protes- 
tant bishops,  clergy,  and  sacred  edifices.  The 
wretched  condition  of  the  country  now  drove  the 
peasants  into  a  stubborn  resistance  to  this  tax. 
The  "tithe  proctors,"  as  the  agents  who  collected 
the  tithe  were  called,  were  utterly  hated,  The  coiiec- 
and  were  often  subjected  to  violence,  tion  of  tithes. 
Many  of  the  cattle  seized  for  tithes  were  maimed 
or  killed  ;  nor  did  any  one  dare  to  buy  the  cattle 
so  seized,  when  they  were  put  up  at  auction,  for 
fear  of  the  vengeance  of  the  peasants.  A  large 
force  of  soldiers  had  to  be  used  to  enforce  the  col- 
lection of  these  tithes.  At  last,  in  the  first  year  of 
the  reign  of  Victoria,  a  law  was  passed  by  which 
the  peasants,  or  tenants,  were  relieved  of  the  pay- 
ment of  tithes,  which  were  now  imposed  upon  the 


26S         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

landlords  (1838).  But  this  did  not  always  prove  a 
benefit  to  the  tenants  ;  for  the  landlords,  in  many 
cases,  raised  their  rents  so  as  to  cover  the  amount  of 
the  tithes. 

A  short  time  before,  two  reforms  relating  to  Ire- 
land had  been  adopted,  and  had  proved  of  benefit  to 
the  country.  One  was  the  establishment  of  a  sys- 
tem of  elementary  schools  ;  the  other,  the  reduction 
of  the  number  of  Protestant  bishops,  by  which  the 
cost  of  the  established  church  was  considerably  les- 
sened. In  the  same  year  that  the  tithes  were  trans- 
„   ^  ferred  to  the  landlords,  occurred  the  s^reat 

Father  '  o 

Mathew's  tcmpcrancc  revival  in  Ireland,  led  by  the 
ardent,  eloquent  young  priest.  Father 
Mathew ;  in  the  course  of  which  nearly  two  hun- 
dred thousand  Irish  subscribed  to  the  pledge  not  to 
drink  any  intoxicating  liquors.  The  results  of  this 
revival  upon  crime  in  Ireland,  and  upon  the  habits 
and  condition  of  the  people,  were  most  beneficent. 
It  was  while  Father  Mathew  was  stirring  the  popular 
heart  with  his  fervent  appeals  in  behalf  of.  temperance, 
that  Daniel  O'Connell  entered  upon  his  second  great 
agitation, — that  to  dissolve  the  union  of  the  Parlia- 
ments, and  to  restore  the  old  "  Grattan's "  Parlia- 
ment (1838).  In  doing  this,  he  pursued  the  same 
methods  which  he  had  so  successfully  used  in  bring- 
ing about  the  political  emancipation  of  the  Catholics. 
O'Connell's  first  step  was  to  form  a  "Repeal  As- 
sociation," similar  to  the  ''  Catholic  Association " 
which  had   done  such  effective  work.     In    no  long 


THE    THREE    YEARS'    FAMINE.  269 

time  the  society  had  grown  into  a  numerous  and 
enthusiastic  body.  It  was  mainly  composed  of  the 
middle  and  lower  classes,  and  there  were  many  more 
Catholics  than  Protestants  in  its  ranks.  Yet  it  con- 
tained many  Protestants,  and  many  well-educated 
young  men  of  both  creeds  joined  the  movement. 
O'Connell  was  the  leading  spirit.  He  organized 
monster  meetings  in  Ireland,  at  which  he  declaimed 
about  the  wrongs  of  the  land,  recalled  the  The  Repeal 
cruelties,  tyrannies,  and  miseries  of  the  Association, 
past,  and  wrought  the  people  up  to  a  high  pitch 
of  excitement.  Money  flowed  into  the  coffers  of  the 
society.  The  English  government  at  first  tolerated 
the  repeal  meetings,  in  the  hope  that  the  agitation 
would  in  time  cease.  But  as  it  became  more  alarm- 
ing and  formidable,  the  ministry  resolved  to  suppress 
the  gatherings  of  the  association. 

It  was  announced  that  a  great  repeal  meeting 
would  take  place  at  Clontarf  (the  scene  of  the  deci- 
sive conflict  between  the  Irish  and  the  Danes)  on 
October  8  (1843).  O'Connell  and  other  repeal  chiefs 
were  to  be  present,  and  address  the  multitude.  The 
English  ministry  issued  a  proclamation  forbidding  the 
meeting.  The  more  ardent  repealers  insisted  that 
the  government  should  be  defied,  and  that  the  meet- 
ing should  be  held  in  spite  of  its  prohibition.  But 
O'Connell,  who  was  always  opposed  to  the  use  of 
physical  force  in  aiming  to  obtain  Irish  rights,  de- 
clared that  the  proclamation  must  be  obeyed.  The 
Clontarf    meetins:    was    not    held.      O'Connell    and 


2/0         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

eight  of  his  lieutenants  were  arrested,  and  tried  for 
treason.  They  were  at  first  convicted  by  a  packed 
jury;  but  their  decision  was  overruled  by  the  House 
of  Lords,  and  O'Connell  and  his  companions  were 
set  free.  The  success  of  the  government  in  vigor- 
ously dealing  with  the  repeal  agitation,  gave  that 
agitation  its  death-blow.  O'Connell's  popularity 
with  the  Irish  masses  rapidly  waned.  The  cause  of 
repeal  was  abandoned  by  many  of  its  former  leaders  ; 
and  in  a  short  time  was  followed  by  another  Irish 
agitation,  which  had  an  altogether  different  end  in 
view. 

But  before  a  new  struggle  was  to  take  place  on 
behalf  of  Irish  liberty,  the  island  was  doomed  to  a 
terrible  calamity.  A  famine,  more  extensive  and 
The  long  devastating  than  had  ever  before  desolated 
famine.  ^\^q  Irish  people,  spread  through  the  land. 

Once  more  wet  and  chilly  seasons  caused  repeated 
failures  of  the  potato  crop  (1845-47).  -^  winter  of 
dreadful  distress  among  the  poor  peasantry  ensued. 
Thousands  were  unable  to  pay  their  rent ;  and  when 
the  landlords,  as  was  the  case  in  many  instances,  tried 
to  force  them  to  pay  it,  they  resorted,  in  their  desper- 
ation, to  violence  and  outrage.  The  government 
made  several  efforts  to  relieve  the  distress  of  the 
Irish.  The  corn-laws,  which  placed  a  high  duty  on 
bread-stuffs,  were  repealed.  Large  sums  were  voted 
to  employ  the  starving  people  as  laborers  on  the 
building  of  roads  and  public  buildings.  At  one  time, 
more  than  seven  hundred  thousand  men  were  thus 


THE    THREE    YEARS     FAMINE.  2/1 

provided  with  work.  Yet  the  second  year  of  the 
famine  was  worse  than  the  first.  The  aboHtion  of 
the  corn-laws  did  not  bring  the  expected  relief  to 
Ireland  ;  nor  did  the  large  employment  of  men  on 
public  works  suffice  to  supply  the  starving  families 
with  sufficient  food  to  keep  them  alive. 

It  is  a  strange  and  startling  fact,  that  at  this  very 
time,  when  thousands  of  families  were  utterly  fam- 
ished, Ireland  was  sending  abroad  more  shiploads  of 
wheat  and  other  grain  and  provisions,  than  any  coun- 
try in  the  world.  There  was  plenty  of  food  ;  but  it 
was  beyond  the  reach  of  the  poor,  rent-ridden,  hungry 
Irish  peasants.  Other  sufferings  were  soon  ^^^^^  ^ 
added  to  that  of  famine.  The  wretched  suffering  in 
huts,  the  miserably  scant  clothing  of  the 
peasants,  exposed  them  mercilessly  to  cold  storms 
and  winds.  Fevers  and  other  contagious  disorders 
spread  rapidly  among  the  villages  and  farming-dis- 
tricts. Men,  women,  and  children  died  daily  by  hun- 
dreds, often  breathing  their  last  breath  by  the  road- 
side, in  the  ditches,  or  in  the  fields  among  the  blighted 
potato  crops.  Charitable  societies  and  committees 
were  formed  for  the  purpose  of  supplying,  as  far  as 
possible,  food  for  the  starving  multitude.  Cooked 
provisions  were  energetically  distributed  by  these 
societies  and  the  more  humane  landlords.  But  the 
calamity  proved  too  wide-spread  to  be  checked  by 
any  exertion  that  was  or  could  be  made. 

One  important  result  of  this  terrible  and  long-con- 
tinued famine  was  to  drive  many  thousands  of  the 


2/2         YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

Irish  to  seek  homes  in  other  countries.  Most  of 
these  came  across  the  Atlantic  to  Canada  and  the 
United  States.  One  hundred  thousand  landed,  in 
Increased  ouQ  year,  in  Canada  alone.  Many  of  the 
emigration,  emigrants  were  emaciated,  and  stricken 
with  disease.  Large  numbers  died  on  shipboard,  or 
soon  after  their  arrival  in  America.  In  a  less  degree 
the  tide  of  emigration  carried  many  of  the  Irish 
into  England.  When  the  famine  began,  the  popula- 
tion of  Ireland  had  comprised  eight  millions  of 
people.  When,  at  last,  the  frightful  scourge  had 
spent  its  force,  the  population  of  Ireland  had  been 
reduced,  by  death  and  emigration,  to  less  than  six 
millions.  The  country  had  lost  two  millions  of  its 
people.  The  severity  of  many  of  the  landlords,  and 
the  "  coercion "  laws  which  Parliament  had  passed 
to  suppress  the  desperate  acts  of  the  peasants  dur- 
ing the  period  of  the  famine,  rekindled  the  hatred  of 
England  in  Irish  breasts.  The  famine  thus  prepared 
the  Irish  for  the  next  movement  for  trying  to  throw 
off  the  English  yoke  altogether. 


LATER    REVOLTS.  2/3 


CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

LATER    REVOLTS. 

TT  7HILE  O'Connell's  agitation  to  restore  the  Irish 
V  V  Parliament  was  going  on,  a  new  party  came 
into  existence  in  Ireland.  This  party  consisted,  to  a 
large  degree,  of  young  men,  who  desired,  not  only 
that  should  the  Irish  Parliament  be  revived,  but  that 
Ireland  should  become  altogether  independent  of 
England.  Its  members  were  not  satisfied  with  the 
moderate  demands  of  O'Connell ;  nor  did  they  accept 
O'Connell's  idea,  that  in  no  event  should  Irishmen 
fight  for  their  liberties.  They  believed  that  when 
all  other  means  of  securing  the  freedom  of  their 
country  failed.  Irishmen  should  take  up  arms  in  her 
cause.  The  leading  spirits  of  this  "  Young  "Young 
Ireland "  party,  as  it  was  called,  were  ^feiand." 
Thomas  Davis,  John  Blake  Dillon,  Gavan  Duffy, 
Smith  O'Brien,  John  Mitchel,  Thomas  Francis 
Meagher,  and  John  Martin.  All  of  them  were 
young  men.  Dillon  and  Duffy  were  Catholics. 
O'Brien,  Mitchel,  Davis,  and  Martin  were  Protes- 
tants. Every  one  of  these  men  was  an  undoubted 
patriot. 


2/4         YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

The  first  step  of  the  Young  Ireland  party  was  to 
found  a  newspaper,  which  they  called  "The  Nation" 
(1842).  It  forcibly  advocated  Ireland's  cause.  It 
presented  vivid  pictures  of  the  wrongs  under  which 
Ireland  was  suffering.  It  did  not  approve  of 
O'Connell's  course  and  methods.  The  ability  with 
which  "The  Nation  "  was  conducted  won  for  it  wide- 
spread influence  in  Ireland.  Soon  after  O'Connell's 
death,  John  Mitchel,  impatient  of  the  delay  of  the 
Young  Irelanders  in  taking  up  arms,  founded  another 
paper,  "The  United  Irishman,"  which  boldly  ad- 
vocated insurrection.  Mitchel  was  arrested,  tried 
for  treason,  and  transported  beyond  seas  for  fourteen 
years.  Immediately  another  paper,  "The  Irish  Trib- 
incitements  uuc,"  edited  by  Kevin  Izod  O'Doherty, 
to  revolt.  ^g^g  issued,  Urging  the  people  to  rebel ; 
and  soon  after,  yet  another  journal,  edited  by  John 
Martin,  and  devoted  to  the  same  object,  made  its 
appearance.  O'Doherty,  Martin,  and  others  were 
arrested ;  and  the  government  made  a  strenuous  at- 
tempt to  crush  out  Irish  disaffection  by  suspending 
the  habeas  corpus  act. 

These  events  were  followed  by  the  breaking-out  of 
the  third  French  revolution.  The  Young  Ireland 
party  caught  from  France  the  spirit  of  revolt  (1848). 
Smith  O'Brien  took  the  lead  of  the  Irish  insurgents. 
With  Dillon  and  Meagher,  he  made  a  desperate  effort 
to  persuade  the  people  at  various  points  to  rise  in 
arms.  The  attempt,  however,  was  a  disheartening 
failure.     In  two  or  three  places  disturbances  occurred, 


LATER    REVOLTS.  2/5 

but  the  triumph  of  the  government  was  easy.  The 
leaders  were  speedily  captured.  O'Brien  capture  of 
and  Meagher  were  transported  for  life,  and  ^"^^  leaders. 
O'Doherty  and  Martin  for  ten  years.  Dillon  escaped 
to  the  United  States.  Duffy  was  released,  after  a 
failure  to  convict  him.  In  the  following  year,  an- 
other feeble  attempt  at  insurrection  was  made,  but 
was  quickly  suppressed.  The  wretchedness  of  the 
Irish  tenantry  again  caused  a  marked  increase  in  emi- 
gration. The  landlords  exacted  rents  which  it  was 
impossible  for  the  tenants  to  pay ;  and,  when  they 
did  not  pay,  the  landlords  remorselessly  turned  them 
out  of  their  little  holdings,  often  to  starve  or  freeze 
to  death  by  the  roadside. 

For  many  years  after  the  failure  of  the  rising  of 
Young  Ireland,  indeed,  the  history  of  the  island  con- 
sists of  the  story  of  the  miseries  produced  by  the 
Irish  land-system.  Not  only  did  the  land-  evUs  of  the 
lords  demand  high  rents,  and  "evict,"  or  land-system. 
turn  out,  the  tenants  unabls  to  pay  them  ;  but  they 
also  reaped  the  advantage  of  the  added  value  of  the 
land,  caused  by  the  improvements  made  upon  it  by 
the  tenants.  When  such  improvements  had  been 
added,  the  rents  were  raised  in  consequence  of  the 
increase  thus  effected  in  the  value  of  the  land.  This 
was  called  ''rack-renting."  The  officers  of  the  law 
aided  the  landlords  to  collect  their  rents  and  to  turn 
out  their  tenants.  The  tenants  had  no  protection 
from  any  source.  Thousands  were  thus  reduced  to 
the   most   desperate  poverty.     The  result  was,  that 


2/6  YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

many  acts  of  violence  took  place  in  different  parts 
Agrarian  of  the  island.  Landlords  and  their  agents 
violence.  went  about  in  peril  of  their  lives.  Cattle 
were  maimed  ;  and  houses,  barns,  and  hay-ricks  were 
burned.  The  attempts  made  by  the  British  Parlia- 
ment to  remedy  these  terrible  evils  in  Ireland  were 
fitful,  and  did  not  prove  effectual. 

Ten  years  after  the  suppression  of  the  Young  Ire- 
land revolt,  another  and  far  more  formidable  society 
was  formed,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  separa- 
tion of  Ireland  from  Great  Britain  by  force  of  arms 
(1858).  The  leaders  of  the  Young  Ireland  revolt 
had  been  amnestied,  and  were  once  more  free  men. 
Some  of  them  had  returned  home ;  and  these  en- 
tered upon  a  fresh  effort  to  secure  freedom  for 
their  country.  They  formed  what  is  now  famous  as 
The  Fenian  the  "  Feuiau  brothcrhood."  At  its  head 
brotherhood.  ^^^^  Jamcs  Stcvcus,  a  rcsolutc  and  able 
man,  who  had  taken  part  in  the  rising  of  1848.  At 
first  it  seemed  as  if  the  Fenian  conspiracy  would  be 
as  short-lived  as  that  of  Young  Ireland.  Its  secret 
meetings  were  revealed  to  the  government,  and  its 
chiefs  were  arrested  and  thrown  into  jail.  But  it 
was  aided  and  supported,  to  an  extent  that  no  pre- 
vious conspiracy  had  been,  by  the  Irish  in  the  United 
States.  Branches  of  the  society  were  formed  in 
American  cities  and  towns.  Funds  were  raised,  and 
men  provided,  for  the  operations  of  the  brotherhood. 

In  the  year  following  the  close  of  the  American 
civil  war  {1866),  the    Fenians  .had   become  a  wide- 


LATER   REVOLTS.  2/7 

spread  and  powerful  association.  A  Fenian  paper, 
"The  Irish  People,"  had  been  established.  Stevens, 
the  "head  centre"  of  the  Fenians,  who  had  been 
captured,  had  escaped  from  prison,  and  was  again 
actively  employed  in  the  projects  of  the  society. 
The  arrest  and  transportation  of  some  of  the  other 
leaders  had  only  increased  the  popularity  of  the 
brotherhood  among  the  Irish.  The  Ameri-  The  Amen- 
can  Fenians  organized  a  well-trained  force,  *^^"  Fenians, 
which  invaded  Canada,  defeated  the  Canadian  volun- 
teers sent  to  oppose  them,  and  were  only  deterred 
from  a  further  advance  by  the  intervention  of  the 
United  States.  At  about  the  same  time  a  plot  was 
formed  by  the  Fenians  in  England  to  seize  the  castle 
of  Chester,  and  thence  make  a  descent  upon  Ireland. 
This  project  was  revealed  to  the  British  cabinet  by 
treacherous  Fenians,  and  was  therefore  not  attempted. 
Early  in  the  following  year,  the  Fenians  tried  to  in- 
cite a  general  revolt  in  Ireland ;  but  this,  too,  proved 
an  utter  failure.  The  government  had  again  sus- 
pended the  habeas  corpus  ;  and,  following  upon  the 
discomfiture  of  the  Fenian  plans,  large  Arrest  of 
numbers  of  those  who  had  been  concerned  Fenian 
in  them,  were  arrested,  hastily  tried,  con- 
victed, and  punished  with  imprisonment  and  trans- 
portation. 

In  spite  of  all  these  failures,  Fenianism  was  not 
yet  crushed.  Two  startling  events,  which  took  place 
in  the  same  year  (1867),  reminded  the  world  that  its 
fierce  spirit  still  survived.     The  first  of  these  events 


2/8         YOUNG   people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

occurred  at  Manchester,  England.  Two  Fenians  were 
one  day  being  taken  in  a  prison-van  from  the  court- 
house, where  they  had  just  been  convicted,  to  jail. 
As  the  van  was  passing  through  the  streets,  it  was 
assailed  by  a  party  of  armed  Irishmen,  who  attempted 
to  rescue  the  prisoners.  In  the  struggle  which  en- 
sued, a  policeman  named  Brett  was  killed  by  the  as- 
sailants. The  latter  were  captured  ;  and,  after  a  brief 
_.    .,  trial,  three  of  them  —  O'Brien,  Larkin,  and 

The  Man-  '  '  ' 

Chester  AUcu  —  wcrc  condcmucd  to  death  and  exe- 

trage  y.  cutcd.  Their  fate  caused  intense  agitation 
throughout  Ireland.  The  three  men  were  looked 
upon  as  martyrs  ;  and  great  gatherings  took  place  in 
Ireland,  to  celebrate  their  funerals.  Many  promi- 
nent Englishmen  tried  to  save  their  lives,  but  the 
appeals  of  men  like  John  Bright  and  John  Stuart 
Mill  proved  unavailing. 

Less  than  a  month  after  the  execution  of  the  Man- 
chester rescuers,  a  barbarous  attempt  was  made  to 
blow  up  Clerkenwell  prison  in  London.  Some  Feni- 
ans were  incarcerated  in  this  prison,  and  one  of  their 
comrades,  a  man  named  Barrett,  took  it  into  his  head 
to  try  to  release  them  by  shattering  the  prison-wall 
with  gunpowder.  He  placed  a  barrel  of  powder  near 
the  wall,  and  set  it  off.  The  result  was,  not  to  effect 
Thecierken-  ^^^  cscapc  of  the  Fcniau  prisoners,  but  to 
well  expio-  kill  several  innocent  persons,  and  to  injure 
many  more.  Nothing  could  be  more 
stupid  or  cruel  than  this  crime.  It  made  Fenianism 
obnoxious  to  many  Irishmen  who  had  before  sympa- 


The  Manchester  Tragedy.  —  Page  278. 


LATER   REVOLTS.  2/9 

thized  with  the  society,  and  it  aroused  indignation 
throughout  the  world.  Barrett  was  tried  and  hung. 
But  the  Manchester  and  Clerkenwell  affairs  had  at 
least  one  striking  result.  They  showed  how  bitterly 
the  Irish  continued  to  regard  the  unjust  laws,  insti- 
tutions, and  oppressions,  to  which  they  were  still 
subjected  by  English  power ;  and  they  aroused  a 
great  English  statesman  to  sternly  resolve  that  he 
would  seek  out,  and  try  to  remedy,  the  evils  which 
had  created  and  fostered  Irish  discontent. 


280         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

Gladstone's   irish  reforms. 

IN  the  year  following  the  Manchester  and  Clerken- 
well  tragedies,  William  Ewart  Gladstone  became, 
for  the  first  time,  prime  minister  of  England  (1868). 
William  ^^  ^^'^^  already  a  statesman  of  long  ex- 
Ewart  perience,  and  of  unsurpassed  genius.     He 

^  °"^*  had  been  a  member  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons for  more  than  thirty  years,  and  had  repeatedly 
sat  in  previous  cabinets.  After  the  retirement  from 
office  of  Lord  Russell  (1866),  Mr.  Gladstone  had  be- 
come the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Liberal  party. 
He  had  entered  public  life  as  a  Tory.  But  in  the 
course  of  years  his  political  convictions  had  con- 
stantly become  broader  and  more  liberal.  He  had, 
moreover,  won  the  confidence  of  the  English  people 
by  the  long-proved  sincerity,  uprightness,  and  moral 
elevation  of  his  public  acts  and  of  his  personal  char- 
acter. No  statesman  could  have  been  better  fitted 
to  deal  with  a  subject  so  difficult,  so  important,  and  so 
replete  with  moral  aspects,  as  was  that  of  Ireland. 

Mr.  Gladstone  perceived  that  it  was  necessary  to 
deal  without   delay,  and  with  resolute  energy,  with 


Gladstone's  irish  reforms.  281 

the  state  of  Ireland.     The  disaffection  of  the  Irish 
to    English    rule,   and  the  great  abuses  which  had 
grown  up  under,  and  had  been  fostered  by,  that  rule 
in  Ireland,  had  been  so  persistently  revealed  through- 
out the  period  succeeding  the  union  of  the 
Parliaments,  that  it  was  vitally  important,   ^/q'^^^^^' 
if  possible,  to  apply  a  remedy.     Mr.  Glad-  votes  himself 
stone  set  about  the  task  of  removing  some  reforms, 
of  the  chief  grievances  of  which  the  Irish 
justly  complained.     His  earnest  desire  was  to  remove 
them,  and  to  reconcile  the  Irish  to  English  rule,  by 
getting  rid,  as  far  as  possible,  of  those  features  of 
English  rule  which  fostered  the  discontent    of   the 
Irish.     Those  features  were,  as  he  declared,  three  : 
*'  the  established  church,  the  system  of  land  tenure, 
and  the  system  of  national  education."     With  each 
of  these  he  proposed  to  deal,  by  framing  and  passing 
laws  which  would  either  greatly  modify  them,  or  get 
rid  of  them  altogether. 

One  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  first  acts  as  prime  minister 
was  to  assert,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  that  the 
Irish  Protestant  church,  as  a  church  recog-  The  Irish 
nized  and  sustained  by  the  state,  must  church. 
cease  to  exist.  It  was  the  church  of  the  small  mi- 
nority of  Irishmen  ;  yet  it  was  to  a  large  degree  sup- 
ported, on  compulsion,  by  the  contributions  of  Irish 
Catholics.  It  had  not  increased,  and  had  utterly  failed 
to  fulfil  the  mission  intrusted  to  it,  of  converting  the 
masses  of  the  Irish  to  the  Protestant  faith.  It  held 
property  to  the  amount  of  ^14,000,000,  for  the  most 


282         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

part  confiscated  in  preceding  centuries  from  Catholic 
owners.  It  was,  in  short,  a  slothful  and  stagnant 
church,  enjoying  wealth  for  which  it  made  no  return, 
and  always  prominent,  in  the  eyes  of  the  immense 
majority  of  the  Irish,  as  a  symbol  of  English  oppres- 
sion. Mr.  Gladstone  therefore  brought  in  a  bill  to 
"disestablish  and  disendow"  the  Irish  church  ;  that 
is,  to  deprive  it  of  its  position  as  the  state  church,  and 
to  take  away  from  it  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  property 
it  had,  in  the  process  of  years,  acquired. 

After  a  long  struggle,  in  the  course  of  which  the 
House  of  Lords  once  rejected  it,  the  bill  was  finally 
Disestablish-  P^sscd,  and  became  a  law  (July  26,  1869). 
ment  of  the  Froui  and  after  January  i,  1871,  the  Irish 
state  church  ceased  to  exist.  At  the 
same  time,  the  grant  which  had  long  been  made  from 
the  English  treasury  to  the  Irish  Catholic  college  of 
Maynooth,  was  withdrawn.  Only  a  portion  of  the 
property  of  the  Irish  church  was  taken  from  it. 
Over  ;£  1 0,000,000  still  remained  in  the  hands  of 
its  bishops  and  clergy.  The  sum  of  which  it  was 
deprived  (about  ;£4,ooo,ooo)  was  reserved,  to  be 
devoted  to  the  relief  of  the  Irish  if  a  famine,  or  some 
other  terrible  scourge,  should  come  upon  them.  The 
next  object  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  attack  was  the  system 
of  the  Irish  land.  The  powers  of  the  landlords,  used 
most  often  cruelly  and  oppressively,  formed  a  far 
more  serious  material  grievance  to  the  Irish  masses 
than  the  Irish  church.  The  question,  too,  was  a 
far  harder  one  to  solve.     To  deal  justly  by  the  land- 


Gladstone's  irish  reforms.  283 

lords  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  tenants  on  the  other, 
was  a  task  calculated  to  tax  the  ability  of  the  great- 
est statesman. 

Mr.  Gladstone  made  two  efforts  to  settle  the  rela- 
tions between  the  Irish  landlords  and  their  tenants, 
so  that  the  rights  of  both  might  be  pro-  ^^  qj^j_ 
tected.  His  first  attempt  was  made  in  the  stone's  first 
year  following  the  disestablishment  of  the 
Irish  church  (1870),  and  his  second  attempt  was 
made  eleven  years  after  (1881).  In  his  first  Irish 
land  bill,  Mr.  Gladstone  sought  to  lessen  the  power  of 
the  landlords  to  turn  the  tenants  out  of  their  hold- 
ings at  the  landlords'  will  and  caprice  ;  to  secure  to 
the  tenants  payment  for  any  improvements  they 
might  make  on  their  plots  of  land  ;  to  enable  tenants, 
by  easy  methods,  to  become  absolute  owners  of  the 
land  they  tilled  ;  and  to  give  tenants  the  right  to 
sell  out  their  leases  to  others,  if  they  wished  to  do 
so.  Various  causes  combined,  however,  to  render 
this  measure,  though  well  intended,  an  ineffectual 
one.  The  landlords  evaded  its  provisions,  and  in- 
duced the  tenants  to  make  agreements  which  de- 
prived them  of  the  privileges  the  new  law  gave 
them.  The  cost  of  appealing  to  the  courts,  to  sup- 
port their  rights  under  the  law,  was  too  great  for  the 
poor  peasants,  who  lived  constantly  from  hand  to 
mouth  ;  and  it  soon  appeared  that  Mr.  Gladstone's 
measure  was  practically  a  failure. 

To   improve   the   system   of   education   in   Ireland 
was  the   next   object   of  Mr.    Gladstone's  exertions. 


284         YOUNG   people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

Much,  indeed,  had  been  done  in  the  previous  twenty 
Irish  years  to  remove  the  inequaUties  between 

education.  |-]^g  Ifish  CathoHcs  and  Protestants  in 
public  instruction,  and  to  give  the  Irish  larger  op- 
portunities than  before  to  educate  their  children. 
The  children  of  the  poorer  classes  had,  to  a  certain 
extent,  been  supplied  with  common  schools.  Three 
colleges,  devoted  to  purely  secular  instruction,  had 
been  established  at  Belfast,  Galway,  and  Cork,  and 
had  been  grouped  into  a  university.  The  Catholic 
college  at  Maynooth  had  been  supported  in  part  by 
grants  made  from  the  public  treasury.  Trinity  Col- 
lege, Dublin,  moreover,  the  ancient  Irish  college, 
which  had  once  excluded  Catholics  both  from  its 
government,  its  professorships,  and  its  classes,  had 
recently  been  thrown  open  to  students  of  all  creeds. 
The  Catholics,  however,  did  not  feel  that,  in  the 
matter  of  education,  they  had  been  placed  on  an 
entire  equality  with  their  Protestant  countrymen ; 
and  Mr.  Gladstone  resolved  to  try  to  remove  the 
cause  of  their  complaint. 

Three  years  after  the  passage  of  the  first  land  bill, 

Mr.    Gladstone   introduced  a  measure  re-organizing 

the  system  of  Irish  education  (1873).      He 

Defeat  of  ^  ^    .,  .  . 

Mr.  Glad-  proposcd  to  sct  up  a  great  Irish  university 
stone's  edu-    -^^  placc  of  thosc  already  existing,  which 

cation  bill.  ^^  .  . 

were  to  be  abolished.  In  the  new  institu- 
tion, neither  theology  nor  history  was  to  be  taught. 
The  measure  met  with  prompt  disaster.  It  was 
defeated  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  a  small  major- 


Gladstone's  irish  reforms.  285 

ity,  and  was  the  cause  of  the  downfall  of  Mr.  Glad- 
stone and  his  colleagues.  They  remained  at  the 
head  of  affairs  a  year  longer,  it  is  true ;  but  the  blow 
dealt  by  the  vote  on  the  Irish  education  bill  was  fatal 
to  the  power  of  the  ministry.  After  such  an  event, 
Mr.  Gladstone  could  not  hope  to  deal  successfully 
with  any  large  measure  of  reform,  either  for  Ireland 
or  for  Great  Britian.  His  successor,  Mr.  Disraeli, 
carried  a  measure  which  swept  away  the 
"queen's  colleges"  of  Belfast  and  Cork,  raeii's  edu- 
and  which   set  up  a  board  of  examiners,   ^^**°°^i 

^  measures. 

who  were  empowered  to  examine  Irish  stu- 
dents, and  to  confer  degrees  upon  them.     He  also  de- 
voted ^r, 000, 000  of  the  money  taken  from  the  Irish 
church,  to  the  support  of  certain  Irish  schools. 

While  English  statesmen  were  thus  attempting  to 
make  laws  which  would  remove  the  long  and  deep- 
seated  discontent  of  the  Irish,  a  fresh  project  was 
being  matured  by  Irish  leaders  to  secure,  by  agita- 
tion, broader  objects  than  those  pursued  by  Mr. 
Gladstone.  A  league  was  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
advocating  and  urging  ''  Home  Rule "  The  Home- 
(1871).  ''Home  Rule  "meant,  that  Ireland  R^'eLeague. 
should  be  allowed  to  make  the  laws  which  related  to 
her  own  local  affairs  and  interests.  It  was  proposed 
by  the  league,  that  for  this  object,  an  Irish  Parlia- 
ment should  be  created.  The  new  association  was 
composed  of  both  Protestants  and  Catholics.  Its 
leader  was  Isaac  Butt,  a  Protestant  lawyer  of  great 
ability.     Its  growth  was  rapid ;  and,  at  the  next  par- 


286         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

liamentary  election  succeeding  its  formation,  fifty- 
one  Home  Rulers  were  chosen  by  Irish  districts  to 
sit  in  the  House  of  Commons  (1874).  Mr.  Butt  and 
his  followers  soon  found,  however,  that  there  was,  at 
that  time,  a  more  pressing  subject  than  that  of  Home 
Rule  which  demanded  their  energies  and  advocacy. 
This  was  the  question  of  the  land. 

The  condition  of  the  tenants  and  peasants  was 
still  wretched.  Mr.  Gladstone's  land-act  had  failed 
to  relieve  them.  The  landlords  were  still  tyrannical, 
The  land-  Overbearing,  and  powerful.  Meanwhile 
question  thc  potato-crop  again  partly  failed,  and 
^  ^"  "^'  once  more  Ireland  was  threatened  with 
famine.  The  Home-Rule  leaders,  therefore,  for  the 
time  abandoned  their  demand  for  a  local  legislature, 
and  vigorously  took  up  the  land  question.  They 
urged  that  the  Irish  tenants  should  be  granted  "  fix- 
ity of  tenure,  fair  rents,  and  free  sale ; "  that  is,  that 
they  should  not  be  turned  out  of  their  land  so  long 
as  they  paid  their  rent,  that  that  rent  should  be  a 
fair  one,  and  that  they  should  have  the  right  to  sell 
their  unexpired  leases  if  they  so  wished.  Soon  after 
this  agitation  to  reform  the  land  system  had  been 
begun,  Mr.  Butt  died,  and  was  replaced  by  Mr.  Shaw 
as  the  leader  of  the  league  (1879).  ^^-  Shaw's 
leadership  was  brief.  He  was  speedily  forced  to 
give  way  to  a  new  group  of  Irish  chiefs,  who  were 
destined  to  make  Irish  agitation  for  Irish  rights  more 
formidable  and  effective  than  it  had  ever  been 
before. 


THE    LAND    LEAGUE.  287 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

THE    LAND    LEAGUE. 

WHILE  the  Home-Rule  league  was  pursuing  its 
agitation  under  the  lead  of  Isaac  Butt,  a  quiet, 
unobtrusive  young  man  had  taken  his  seat  for  the 
first  time  in  the  House  of  Commons,  as  the  member 
for  the  county  of  Meath  (1875).  At  first  he  took  no 
part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  House,  and  attracted 
little  attention.  He  was  barely  thirty  years  of  age. 
He  was  a  Protestant  and  a  landlord,  and  was  descended 
from  a  line  of  ancestors  who  had,  now  and  then,  be- 
come eminent  as  leaders  of  the  Irish  cause.  On  his 
mother's  side,  he  was  the  grandson  of  the  American 
commodore  Stewart,  who  had  won,  in  the  war  of 
18 1 2,  the  sturdy  nickname  of  "Old  Iron-  charies 
sides."  This  was  Charles  Stewart  Parnell.  Stewart 
A  few  years  after  he  entered  Parliament, 
a  certain  section  of  the  Irish  mem.bers  became  dis- 
satisfied with  the  moderate  methods  and  aims  of  Mr, 
Butt,  and  of  his  successor,  Mr.  Shaw.  This  section 
desired  more  vigorous  and  more  aggressive  action  in 
urging  the  claims  of  Ireland ;  and,  almost  as  soon  as 
it  was  formed  as  a  distinct  party,  Charles  Stewart 
Parnell  became  its  unquestioned  leader. 


288         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

Meanwhile  another  Irishman,  who  had  been  con- 
demned and  imprisoned  as  a  Fenian,  and  whose 
parents  had  suffered  from  a  cruel  eviction  from  their 
land,  was  maturing  a  scheme,  which,  when  put  into 
operation,  was  destined  to  achieve  important  benefits 
for  Ireland.  This  Fenian  convict  was  Michael 
Davitt ;  and  his  scheme  was,  to  establish  a  vast 
Formation  of  "Land  Lcaguc,"  the  purposes  of  which 
the  Land  were  to  get  rid  of  landlordism  in  Ireland 
eague.  altogether,  and  to  make  the  tillers  of  the 
soil  its  owners  (1879).  The  Land  League  soon  be- 
came a  large  and  powerful  organization.  That  ad- 
vanced section  of  the  Home-Rule  party  which  had 
now  adopted  Mr.  Parnell  as  leader,  entered  warmly 
into  Mr.  Davitt's  plan ;  and  Mr.  Parnell  was  chosen 
as  president  of  the  league.  Meetings  in  promotion 
of  the  league's  purpose  were  held  everywhere  in  Ire- 
land. Its  membership  ere  long  reached  half  a  mil- 
lion of  Irishmen.  Branches  of  the  league  were  also 
formed  in  the  United  States  ;  and  Mr.  Parnell  him- 
self went  to  the  United  States  to  promote  its  inter- 
ests, and  to  raise  money  to  aid  the  poor  Irish  tenants, 
who  were  now  suffering  from  a  famine  caused  by 
repeated  failures  of  the  crops. 

The  agitation  of  the  Land  League  was  soon  fol- 
lowed by  the  second  attempt  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Glad- 
stone to  settle  the  Irish  land  difficulty  on  a  just  and 
sound  basis.  Mr.  Gladstone  had  returned  to  power, 
for  the  second  time,  as  prime  minister  (1880).  He 
had  at  his  back  a  very  large  majority  of  the  just- 


THE    LAND    LEAGUE.  289 

elected  House  of  Commons.  Sixty  Home  Rulers, 
most  of  whom  accepted  the  leadership  and  policy  of 
Mr.  Parnell,  sat  in  the  new  Parliament.  Several 
attempts  were  made  to  give  temporary  relief  to  the 
starving  Irish  tenantry.  But  the  Land  League  was 
not  satisfied.  It  pursued  its  ends  with  ardor  and 
energy.  So  violent,  in  the  view  of  the  government, 
did  the  agitation  become,  that  Mr.  Glad-  coercion  in 
stone  felt  compelled  to  resort  to  stringent  Ireland, 
measures  to  check  the  operations  of  the  league.  A 
new  coercion  bill  was  passed.  It  gave  authority  to 
the  lord-lieutenant  to  arrest  and  imprison  any  Irish- 
man suspected  of  treason,  and  to  keep  him  in  prison 
for  an  indefinite  period,  without  a  trial.  The  coer- 
cion act  was  followed  by  an  arms  act,  under  which 
the  officers  of  the  law  could  search  Irish  houses  for 
fire-arms,  and  seize  them  if  found. 

The  leaders  of  the  league,  notwithstanding  these 
repressive  laws,  continued  to  make  fiery  and  exciting 
addresses  before  vast  meetings  of  Irishmen.     Then 
the  ministry  went   a   step  farther.     Several   of  the 
Irish  leaders  were  arrested  and  tried  for  conspiracy. 
But   the   jury  failed   to   convict    them.     Soon    after 
Michael  Davitt,  the  founder  of  the  league,   ^^^^^^  ^^ 
and    Father   Sheehy,  a   vehement    league   Davitt  and 
speaker,   were   arrested  and    thrown   into 
prison.      At    the    same    time    many    less    important 
members  of  the  league  were  consigned  to  Irish  jails. 
Even  these  harsh  measures  did  not  awe  those  leaders 
of  the  league  who  were   still  at  large.     Incendiarv 


290         YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

speeches  continued  to  excite  the  Irish.  Then  the 
ministry  arrested  the  chiefs  of  the  league  under  the 
coercion  act.  Messrs.  Parnell,  Dillon  (the  son  of 
the  Dillon  of  "  Young  Ireland  "  days),  Sexton, 
O'Brien,  and  O'Kelly  were  suddenly  committed  to 
Kilmainham  jail.  From  their  prison  cells  these 
leaders  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  Irish  tenants, 
urging  them  to  pay  no  rent  until  the  prisoners  were 
released.  Then  the  government  declared  that  the 
Land  League  had  acted  in  violation  of  the  law,  and 
ordered  its  complete  suppression. 

Having,  by  these  strong  measures,  striven  to  re- 
store the  power  of  the  government  in  Ireland,  Mr. 
The  second  Gladstone  set  to  work  upon  his  second 
land  act.  jg^j^j  schcmc.  He  iutroduccd  this  into  the 
House  of  Commons  in  the  year  after  his  return  to 
office  (1881).  The  new  bill  created  land  courts  in 
Ireland,  which  were  intended  to  settle  all  disagree- 
ments between  the  landlords  and  their  tenants.  To 
these  courts  was  given  the  power  to  fix  the  rents  to 
be  paid  by  tenants  for  a  period  of  fifteen  years ; 
to  enable  tenants  to  sell  the  ''good  will"  of  their 
holdings  ;  and  to  protect  tenants  from  eviction  for 
any  cause,  except  the  non-payment  of  the  rents  es- 
tablished by  the  courts.  The  bill,  however,  did  not 
provide  any  adequate  method  for  enabling  the  ten- 
ants to  become  the  absolute  owners  of  the  soil  they 
cultivated.  To  secure  this  ownership  was  the  aim 
of  the  Land  League.  The  Irish  leaders  refused  to 
accept  Mr.  Gladstone's  bill  as  a  final  settlement  of 


THE    LAND    LEAGUE.  29I 

the  land  question  ;  yet  they  did  not  oppose  it.  The 
bill,  after  a  series  of  long  debates,  finally  became  a 
law  (Aug.  22,  1 881);  and  the  land  courts  created  by 
it  began  their  sessions.  They  were  soon  over- 
crowded with  tenants  who  applied  to  have  their  rents 
fixed,  and  the  tenure  of  their  holdings  secured. 

The  courts  moved  slowly ;  and  the  result  was  that, 
from  month  to  month,  only  a  very  small  proportion 
of  the  thousands  of  tenants  who  sought  their  pro- 
tection, received  it.  Within  a  year,  it  had  become 
apparent  that  Mr.  Gladstone's  second  at-  Failure  of 
tempt  to  secure  justice  to  the  downtrod-  the  land  act. 
den  tenantry  of  Ireland,  was  destined,  like  his  first, 
to  fall  far  short  of  satisfying  the  demands  and  needs 
of  the  Irish  people.  Meanwhile  the  Irish  tenants 
were  suffering  as  grievously  as  ever  from  the  tyranny 
of  the  landlords.  Impoverished  by  a  succession  of 
bad  harvests,  they  could  not  pay  their  rents  ;  and  large 
numbers  of  evictions  took  place.  The  suppression  of 
the  Land  League  was  followed  by  the  suppression 
formation  of  secret  societies  and  conspira-  of  the  Land 
cies  in  Ireland,  which  inaugurated  a  reign  ^^^"®' 
of  crime  and  violence.  It  was  evident  that  the 
coercion  act  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  land  bill  on 
the  other,  had  failed  to  restore  order  to  Ireland. 

Mr.  Gladstone,  however,  did  not  yet  despair  of 
satisfying  the  Irish  with  English  rule.  He  now  re- 
leased from  prison  Mr.  Parnell  and  his  companions, 
and  Michael  Davitt.  He  recalled  Mr.  Forster,  the 
chief   secretary  for    Ireland,  under   whose    auspices 


292         YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

coercion  bad  been  rigorously  carried  out ;  and  ap- 
pointed lord  Frederick  Cavendish,  a  younger  son  of 
the  duke  of  Devonshire,  in  Mr.  Forster's  place.  At 
the  same  time  earl  Cowper  was  succeeded  as  lord- 
lieutenant  by  earl  Spencer.  It  was  clear  that  Mr. 
Gladstone  had  made  up  his  mind  to  adopt  a  concili- 
atory policy  towards  Ireland.  Just  at  this  moment 
an  appalling  crime  startled  the  world,  and  forced 
Mr.  Gladstone  to  abandon,  for  the  while  at  least,  his 
generous  intention.  As  lord  Frederick  Cavendish, 
the  new  chief  secretary,  and  Thomas  Burke,  a  promi- 
nent official  of  the  Irish  government,  were  walking, 
„    ^      -       one   day,   throu!ih   Phoenix   Park,   Dublin, 

Murder  of  y '  o  '  ' 

Cavendish  they  wcrc  set  upon  by  a  band  of  ruffians, 
and  murdered  (May  6,  1882).  There  could 
be  no  doubt  that  this  hideous  crime  had  been  com- 
mitted by  Irish  conspirators.  It  at  once  deprived 
Ireland  of  the  sympathy  of  Englishmen,  and  was 
speedily  followed  by  a  more  severe  coercion  act  than 
that  which  had  preceded  it. 

The  new  coercion  act  empowered  three  Irish  judges 
to  try  conspirators  without  a  jury ;  and  authorized  the 
lord-lieutenant  to  cause  houses  to  be  searched ;  to 
have  any  suspicious  persons  who  were  abroad  after 
dark  arrested ;  to  suppress  newspapers ;  and  to  order 
brief  and  summary  trials  of  suspected  persons.  With 
this  severe  measure,  however,  Mr.  Gladstone  carried 
through  Parliament  a  bill  to  partially  relieve  the 
poorer  Irish  tenants  of  their  arrears  of  rent.  In 
cases  where  rent  was  due  for  the  three  years  in  which 


THE    LAND    LEAGUE.  2g3 

the  harvest  had  failed  (1878-9-80),  the  tenant  paid 
one  year's   rent,  the  treasury  one  year's   j^^^.^j  ^^ 
rent,  and  the  landlords  were  required   to   Irish 
remit    one    year's    rent.      This    measure  *^"^°*^- 
brought  relief  to  large  numbers  of  the  Irish  farmers. 
Coercion,  on  the  other  hand,  failed  to  restore  order 
in  Ireland.     An  attempt  was  made  upon  the  life  of 
justice  Lawson,  and  upon  that  of  a  juryman  named 
Field,  who  had  favored  the  conviction  of  Irish  pris- 
oners.    Once  more  the  government  arrested  and  im- 
prisoned Michael  Davitt  and  two  other  Irish  leaders 
for  treasonable  speeches. 

The  murderers  of  lord  Frederick  Cavendish  and 
Mr.  Burke  were  at  last  discovered,  and  suffered  the 
penalty  of  their  crime  upon  the  scaffold.  It  was 
found  that  a  secret  band,  called  the  "  In-  The  invinci- 
vincible  Society,"  had  not  only  planned  ^^^  society, 
and  carried  out  the  killing  of  Cavendish  and  Burke, 
but  had  also  attacked  justice  Lawson  and  the  jury- 
man Field.  The  Invincible  Society  was  betrayed, 
and  its  operations  were  revealed,  by  James  Carey,  who 
was  its  founder  and  leading  spirit.  James  Carey  had 
been  a  member  of  the  Dublin  common  council,  and 
was  a  man  of  good  social  position.  In  return  for  his 
betrayal  of  his  confederates,  he  received  a  free  par- 
don. Five  of  the  Invincibles  were  convicted  and 
hung,  mainly  upon  Carey's  evidence ;  and  several 
others  were  sentenced  to  varying  periods  of  impris- 
onment.  James  Carey,  with  his  family,  left  Ireland, 
to  take   up  his  aboile  at   the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 


294         YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

Just  before  landing  at  the  Cape,  he  was  killed  on 
board  ship  by  an  Irishman  named  O'Donnell. 
O'Donnell  was  taken  to  England,  tried,  and  exe- 
cuted. 

Soon  after  these  events,  secret  societies,  composed 
of  Irish  extremists,  began  to  resort  to  the  use  of 
Dynamite  dynamite,  as  a  means  of  striking  terror 
explosions.  Jj^^q  ^j^g  hearts  of  the  English.  A  suc- 
cession of  explosions  by  dynamite  took  place  in 
various  parts  of  London,  and  in  other  English  towns. 
Several  of  the  London  railway  stations  were  the 
scenes  of  more  or  less  violent  destruction.  The 
most  considerable  of  the  dynamite  explosions  were 
those  which  took  place,  on  the  same  day,  in  Westmin- 
ster Hall  and  the  Tower  of  London  (January-,  1885). 
In  most  cases  the  perpetrators  of  these  acts  escaped 
capture.  They  at  least  succeeded  in  causing  a  feel- 
ing of  alarm  and  suspense  throughout  England.  Al- 
though the  criminals  were  not  always  brought  to 
justice,  it  was  well  known  that  the  dynamite  explo- 
sions were  the  work  of  Irishmen,  and  that  this 
method  of  creating  terror  was  supported,  in  the 
main,  by  funds  collected  in  America. 


GLADSTONE    PROPOSES    HOME    RULE.  295 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

GLADSTONE    PROPOSES    HOME    RULE. 

THE  Irish  leaders  were  not  dismayed  by  the  sup- 
pression of  the  Land  League.  Within  a  year 
another  association,  called  the  "  National  League," 
took  its  place,  with  Mr.  Parnell  at  its  head.  The  National 
The  objects  of  the  new  league  were  an-  league. 
nounced  to  be,  to  make  the  tillers  of  the  soil  its 
owners,  and  to  secure  an  Irish  Parliament  for  the 
making  of  Irish  laws.  It  was  not  long  before  the 
National  League  had  become  as  large  and  as  for- 
midable as  the  Land  League  had  been.  Branches  of 
it  were  formed  in  every  part  of  Ireland,  and  in  the 
United  States.  The  support  of  the  Irish  agitation 
by  Irishmen  in  America,  indeed,  had  now  become  a 
very  important  feature  of  its  progress.  Funds 
poured  in  from  across  the  Atlantic,  and  the  move- 
ment was  to  a  large  degree  sustained  by  American 
money.  Mr.  Parnell  found  himself  at  the  head  of  a 
small  but  resolute  group  of  young,  eloquent,  fearless 
Irish  members  in  the  House  of  Commons.  The 
**  Nationalists,"  as  they  were  called,  resorted  to  ob- 
struction  of   the  business  of   the  House,  w^henever 


296         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

they  thought  it  useful  to  the  Irish  cause  to  do  so. 
They  kept  up  an  active  agitation  in  Ireland  ;  and  so 
indefatigable  had  the  Irish  party  grown  in  pursuit 
of  its  ends,  that  branches  of  the  league  were  formed 
and  flourished  in  many  English  cities  and  towns. 

The  time  had  now  come,  in  the  judgment  of  Mr. 
Gladstone,  the  prime  minister,  to  extend  the  right  of 
suffrage  to  large  numbers  of  the  subjects  of  the 
queen,  who  had  hitherto  been  excluded  from  it. 
Household  suffrage  was  already  enjoyed  by  the 
dwellers  in  the  towns  and  villages  of  England,  Scot- 
fhe  third  land,  and  Wales.  Mr.  Gladstone  now  pro- 
reform  bill,  posed  that  household  suffrage  should  be 
extended  to  those  who  lived  in  the  counties,  that  is, 
in  the  rural  districts  ;  and  also  that  it  should  be  given 
to  the  people  of  Ireland,  both  in  the  towns  and  in 
the  country.  He  introduced  a  reform  bill,  with  this 
purpose  in  view,  into  the  House  of  Commons  (1884). 
The  bill  was  strenuously  opposed  by  the  Tories,  and 
was  once  rejected  by  the  House  of  Lords.  But  it 
was  re-introduced  in  the  autumn,  and  then  became  a 
law.  Its  main  provision  was,  that  every  subject  of 
the  queen  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  who  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  who  lived  in  a  dwelling 
owned  or  rented  by  himself,  should  have  the  right  to 
vote  for  members  of  Parliament. 

Immediately  after  the  passage  of  this  great  and 
beneficent  measure,  a  bill  to  ''redistribute"  the  seats 
of  the  House  of  Commons  also  became  a  law.  This 
bill  made  the  electoral  districts  more  equal  in  popu- 


GLADSTONE    PROPOSES    HOME    RULE.  297 

lation,  and  thus  formed  a  House  of  Commons  more 
completely  representative  of  the  will  of  the  people. 
In  the  summer  after  these  reforms  had  been  carried, 
the  Gladstone  ministry  was  defeated  on  a  financial 
question,  by  a  combination  of  the  Tories  and  Irish 
Nationalists  ;  and  the  marquis  of  Salisbury,  with  a 
Tory  ministry,  came  into  power  (June,  1885).  Par- 
liament was  accordingly  dissolved ;  and  a  general 
election  for  a  new  House  of  Commons,  held  under 
the  new  extension  of  the  suffrage,  took  place  in  the 
autumn.  Nearly  two  millions  of  voters  had  been 
added  to  the  electoral  lists  in  the  three  kingdoms. 
The  greatly  increased  number  of  voters  in  Ireland 
made  it  certain  that  Mr.  Parnell's  party  would  be 
much  stronger  in  the  new  Parliament  than  ever  be- 
fore.    The  result  of  the  election  was,  that   . 

'  Increase  of 

neither  of  the  two  great  English  parties   Nationalist 

1  •       '^         •         ^1  TT  T^i  members. 

secured  a  majority  m  the  House.  I  he 
Liberals  elected  333  members  ;  the  Tories,  251  ;  and 
the  Home-Rule  followers  of  Mr.  Parnell,  86.  Thus 
Mr.  Parnell  and  his  followers  held  the  balance  of 
power  between  the  Liberals  and  Tories  ;  since,  by 
uniting  with  either,  they  would  make  a  majority  of 
the  House. 

Upon  their  accession  to  office,  the  marquis  of 
Salisbury  and  his  colleagues  had  refused  to  renew 
the  severe  coercion  act  of  their  predecessors,  and 
had  declared  their  intention  to  try  to  keep  order  in 
Ireland  by  the  ordinary  law.  But  very  soon  after  the 
meeting  of  the  newly  elected  Parliament  (January, 


298         YOUNG    people's    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

1886),  the  ministry  declared  that  they  should  revive 
coercion.  Upon  this,  the  Nationalists  united  with 
the  Liberals,  and  defeated  the  ministry  on  a  resolu- 
tion relating  to  the  English  land  question.  The 
marquis  of  Salisbury  thereupon  resigned  office,  and 
^,  ,  ,  for  the  third  time  Mr.  Gladstone  became 

Gladstone 

declares  for    prime  minister.     No  sooner  had  the  Lib- 

Hcme  Rule.  ■,  i  ^  1      •  ^  i  11 

erals,  under  their  great  and  venerable 
chief,  returned  to  power,  than  it  became  known  that, 
at  last,  Mr.  Gladstone  was  ready  to  yield  to  the  de- 
mand of  the  Irish  Nationalists  for  an  Irish  Parlia- 
ment. Several  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  colleagues  in  the 
ministry  —  chief  among  whom  was  Mr.  Joseph  Cham- 
berlain, the  leader  of  the  radical  section  of  the  Lib- 
erals—  resigned  office,  because  they  could  not  support 
the  prime  minister  in  his  new  Irish  policy.  Already 
several  eminent  Liberals  —  lord  Hartington,  lord  Sel- 
borne,  the  duke  of  Argyll,  and  Mr.  Goschen  —  had 
refused  to  join  the  ministry,  foreseeing  that,  if  they 
did  so,  they  would  probably  be  called  upon  to  support 
Home  Rule. 

Mr.  Gladstone  promptly  filled  up  the  vacant  posts 
in  his  ministry,  and  on  an  ever  memorable  night 
(April,  J  886)  brought  a  bill  into  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, which,  if  passed  into  law,  would  establish  a 
Parliament  in  Dublin,  with  power  to  legislate  on  Irish 
affairs.  He  proposed  that  the  Irish  Parliament 
should  consist  of  two  ''orders,"  but  of  only  one 
house  or  chamber.  One  of  the  orders  was  to  con- 
sist, at  first,  of  the  Irish  peers,  and  afterwards  of 


Gladstone  explaining  his  Scheme  for  the  Government  of  Ireland. 

—  Page  298. 


GLADSTONE    PROPOSES    HOME    RULE.  299 

members  elected  by  a  restricted  suffrage.  The  other 
order  was  to  be  composed  of  members  chosen,  as 
now,  by  household  suffrage.  The  first  order  was  to 
have  the  right  to  suspend  an  act  passed  by  the  House, 
for  the  period  of  three  years.  Other  safeguards  were 
added,  to  protect  the  Protestant  minority  in  Ireland. 
To  the  Parliament  so  formed,   Mr.   Glad-  ^^ 

'  The  pro- 

stone  proposed  that  all  powers  should  be   posed  irish 

given  which  would  not  conflict  with  the  ^^  lamen  . 
preservation  and  unity  of  the  British  empire.  It 
would  have  control  of  the  police,  of  education,  and 
of  Irish  finances.  The  British  Parliament,  however, 
would  still  levy  and  collect  customs  and  excise  in 
Ireland  ;  and  Ireland  would  pay  a  tribute  to  Great 
Britain  of  ^4,000,000  a  year,  as  her  share  in  sup- 
porting the  empire. 

With  his  Home-Rule  bill,  Mr.  Gladstone  proposed 
a  measure  to  purchase,  with  funds  from  the  British 
treasury,  the  estates  of  the  Irish  landlords,  and  to 
parcel  out  and  sell  the  land  thus  acquired   ^^^  ,^^^_ 
to  the  tenants  and  farmers.     This  meas-  purchase 
ure,  however,  did  not  compel  the  landlords 
to  sell  their  estates  ;  it  only  enabled  them  to  do  so  if 
they  wished.     The  object  of  the  bill  was  that  which 
the  Nationalists  had  long  demanded,  —  the  ownership 
of  the  Irish  land  by  those  who  cultivate  it.     The  de- 
bates on  the  Home  Rule  bill  were  prolonged  through 
the  spring,  and  were  earnest,  eloquent,  and  exciting. 
Never  did  the  British  House  of   Commons  witness 
more  thrilling  scenes  and  episodes.     Never  did  the 


300  YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

sturdy  old  leader  of  the  Liberals  rise  to  loftier  heights 
of  fervent  eloquence  and  heart-stirring  appeal.  He 
pleaded  that  Ireland  had  hitherto  been  ruled  by 
force,  and  that  the  time  had  come  to  win  her  by  jus- 
tice and  by  love.  He  exhausted  every  resource  of 
argument,  persuasion,  and  historical  illustration,  and 
employed  every  weapon  of  forensic  warfare,  to  carry 
his  bill.  The  parliamentary  conflict  raged  for  weeks, 
as  probably  it  had  never  raged  before. 

The  vote  on  the  Home-Rule  bill  resulted  in  its 
defeat  by  a  majority  of  thirty.  The  Nationalists 
Defeat  of  uudcr  Mr.  Parnell,  who  had  accepted  Mr. 
Home  Rule.  Gladstone's  measure  with  gratitude  and 
delight,  and  who  had  freely  declared  that  it  would 
satisfy  the  aspirations  of  Ireland,  unanimously  sup- 
ported the  prime  minister  by  speech  and  vote.  But 
nearly  a  hundred  Liberals  joined  the  Tories  in  their 
inveterate  hostility  to  the  bill,  and  thereby  caused  its 
overthrow.  Mr.  Gladstone  would  not  accept  the  vote 
of  the  House  of  Commons  as  final.  He  had  adopted 
the  policy  of  Home  Rule,  and  was  determined  to 
stand  resolutely  and  loyally  by  it.  Although  Parlia- 
ment was  less  than  a  year  old,  he  promptly  dissolved 
it,  and  appealed  to  the  people  on  the  issue  of  Home 
Rule  for  Ireland.  An  election  ensued  which  was 
notable  for  its  brevity  and  its  excitement  (July,  1886). 
The  Liberals  who  had  deserted  Mr.  Gladstone  in  the 
struggle  over  Home  Rule,  and  had  joined  his  antago- 
nists, made  an  alliance  with  the  Tories  throughout 
the  electoral  districts. 


GLADSTONE    PROPOSES    HOME    RULE.  3OI 

The  result  of  the  election  was,  that  a  majority 
opposed  to  Mr.  Gladstone's  Irish  policy  was  chosen 
to  the  new  House  of  Commons.  The  Tories  won 
317  seats  ;  the  anti-Gladstone  Liberals,  y8  ;  the  Glad- 
stone Liberals,  190;  and  the  Irish  Nationalists,  85. 
No  one  of  these  parties,  therefore,  could  command 
an  absolute  majority  of  the  House,  which  was  com- 
posed of  670  members.  But  the  Tories,  combined 
with  their  allies,  the  anti-Gladstone  Liberals,  had  a 
majority  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  over  their  Home- 
Rule  opponents  ;  since  the  whole  force  in  favor  of 
Home  Rule,  including  the  Gladstone  Liberals  and 
the  Nationalists,  numbered  only  275  votes.  As  soon 
as  the  result  of  the  election  was  fully  known,  Mr. 
Gladstone  and  his  colleagues  resigned  office ;  and  for 
the  second  time,  the  marquis  of  Salisbury,  ^^^  Tories 
at  the  head  of  a  Tory  cabinet,  came  into  return  to 
power.  The  new  Parliament  was  promptly  ^°^ 
called  together  (Aug.  5,  1886),  and  entered  upon  its 
career  attended  by  the  watchful  interest  of  the  world. 
Ireland  was  still  the  uppermost,  almost  the  exclusive, 
political  topic  before  the  people  of  the  united  king- 
dom ;  and  all  men  looked  forward  earnestly  to  see 
what  new  phase  that  great  and  pressing  question 
would  assume. 

At  this  engrossing  and  critical  point  in  Irish  his- 
tory, this  narrative  must  be  brought  to  a  close. 
After  an  almost  continuous  struggle  for  liberty  ex- 
tending through  more  than  seven  hundred  years, 
durins:  which    Ireland   has  never  consented  to  rest 


302         YOUNG    PEOPLE  S    HISTORY    OF    IRELAND. 

contented  under  the  rule  of  the  Englishman,  the 
Irish  people  seem  at  last  to  have  reached  a  posi- 
in  which  the  right  of  self-government  cannot  be 
much  longer  refused  to  them.  The  masterly  con- 
^     ,    duct    of    the    Irish    aiiitation    by    Charles 

Prospects  of  o  y 

the  Irish  Stcvvart  Pamcll  and  his  patriotic  lieuten- 
ants ;  the  patient  attitude  of  the  mass  of 
the  Irish  people  during  the  conflict  for  Home  Rule; 
their  instant  appreciation  of  and  gratitude  to  the 
great  English  statesman,  who  not  only  championed, 
but  absorbed  himself  in  devotion  to  their  cause,  — 
have  raised  that  cause  to  a  dignity  and  an  importance 
which  foreshadow  its  not  distant  triumph.  Whether 
the  task  of  according  full  justice  to  Ireland  shall  be 
finally  intrusted  to  Mr.  Gladstone  or  not,  his  name 
must  always  be  held  in  the  highest  reverence,  honor, 
and  affection  by  the  Irish  people,  as  one  who  has 
spent,  in  their  behalf,  the  later  period  of  a  life  fruitful 
and  illustrious  beyond  that  of  any  English  statesman 
of  the  present  century. 


THE    END. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


A.D. 

432  Arrival  in  Ireland  of  St.  Patrick. 

444  Foundation  of  the  see  and  priory  of 
Armagh  by  St.  Patrick. 

450  Foundation  of  the  abbeys  of  Innis- 
cathery,  Downpatrick,  Saul, 
Trim,  Ardagh,  Duleek,  Driim- 
shallon,  and  Louth  by  St.  Pal- 
rick. 

465  Death  of  St.  Patrick. 

500  Foundation  of  a  monastery  at  Swords 
by  St.  Columbkill. 

546.  Foundation  of  abbeys  at  Derry  and 
Diirrow  by  St    Columbkill 

555  Foundation  of  the  abbey  of  Kells  by 
St.  Columbkill. 

563  St.  Columbkill  preaches  Christianity 
in  the  Western  Isles. 

572  St.  Columbanus. 

590  Foundation  of  a  monastery  at  Drum- 
cliffe  by  St.  Columbkill. 

650  Irish  missionaries  on  the  Continent. 

745  Feargal  (Virgilius)  flourished. 

795  The  Northmen  invade  Ireland. 

815  Arrival  of  Purges. 

844  His  death.  Massacre  of  the  North- 
men by  the  Irish. 

849  Fresh  incursions  of  Northmen. 

853  Arrival  of  Amlaf  Nose-money  is 
collected. 

872  The  Northmen  invade  Scotland  from 
Ireland. 

900  Reign  of  Cormac  McCulinan,  King 
of  Leinster. 

948  Conversion  of  the  Northmen  in  Ire- 
land. 

968  Battle  of  Sulchoid. 

Brian  Boru  succeeds  to  the  throne  of 
Munster. 

980  The  Northmen  defeated  at  Tara  by 
Malachy,  king  of  all  Ireland. 

983  Brian  extends  his  rule  over  Lemster. 

997  Struggle  between  Brian  and  Mala- 
chy. 


A.D. 

1CX31  Seizure  of  the  throne  of  Tara  by 
Brian. 

1013  Rebellion  of  Leinster  in  conjunction 

with  the  Northmen. 

1014  Battle  of  Cloniarf.      Death  of  Brian. 
Restoration  of  Malachy. 

1016  .Malachy  defeats  the  Northmen. 

1022  Death  of  Malachy. 

1023  Teige  and  Donchad,  sons  of  Brian, 

joint  rulers  of  Minister. 
Murder  of  Teige  by  Donchad. 

1051  Harold  takes  refuge  with  Donchad 
after  his  rebellion  against  Ed- 
ward the  Confessor. 

1058  Donchad  becomes  titular  king  of  all 
Ireland. 

1063  Donchad  defeated  by  Turlough,  son 

of  leige 

1064  Turlough  titular  king  of  all  Ireland. 
I  1086  Death  of  Turlough. 

I  nil  Synod  of  Rath  Bresail. 

II 19  Death  of  Murkertach. 

1121  Death  of  Donald  O'Loghlin. 

1 132  Struggle  between  Connor  O'Brien  of 
Munster  and  Turlough  O'Con- 
nor of  Connaught. 

1151  Battle  of  Moinmor. 

Turlough  O'Connor   titular  king  of 
all  Ireland. 

1152  Synod  of  Kells. 

1153  Abduction   of   O'Rourke's    wife   by 

McMurrough. 
H54  Conflict  of  Turlough  O'Connor  with 

O'Lochlin  of  Ulster. 
1156  Death  of  Turlough  O'Connor. 
Ii6t  O'Lochlin  titular  king  of  all  Ireland. 
I166  Death  of  O'Lochlin. 

Rory  O'Connor   titular   king   of  all 

Ireland. 

1168  Flight  of  Dermot  McMurrough. 

1 169  His  bargain  with  Strongbow. 
Arrival  of  Fitzstephen      Capture  of 

Wexford. 


304      CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


A.D. 
II69 


1170 


1171 
1 172 


"74 
"75 

"77 
1 184 

"93 
1205 


1210 
Z2l6 

1221 
1234 
"59 

1264 

1272 

1277 
1280 

1290 

1308 
1314 

1315 


Invasion  of  Ossory.  Arrival  of  Ray- 
mond le  Gros. 

Capture  of  Waterford. 

Arrival  of  Strongbow.  His  mar- 
riage with  Eva  McMurrough. 

Capture  of  Dublin. 

Synod  of  Armagh  and  manumission 
of  Engl  ish  slaves.  Death  of  Der- 
mot  McMurrough. 

Siege  of  Dublin. 

Strongbow  returns  to  England  and 
makes  his  peace  with  Henry. 

Henry  II.  arrives. 

He  receives  the  submission  of  the 
chieftains. 

Synod  of  Cashel. 

Government  organized  by  Henry  at 
Dublin. 

He  returns  to  England. 

Capture  of  Limerick. 

Treaty  between  Henry  and  Rory 
O'Connor. 

Prince  John  Lord  of  Ireland. 

Prince  John  lands  at  Waterford. 

Mutiny  of  the  chieftains. 

Death  of  Rory  O'Connor. 

Surrender  of  two-thirds  of  Connaught 
by  Caihal  O'Connor  to  King 
John. 

Disgrace  of  De  Courcy. 

Kmg  John  in  Ireland  He  divides 
it  into  counties. 

The  privileges  of  the  Great  Charter 
extended  to  Irish  subjects. 

Grant  of  Connaught  to  De  Burgh  by 
Henry  III. 

Richard,  Earl  Marshal,  declared  a 
traitor  and  treacherously  killed. 

Rising  of  the  McCarthys  of  Des- 
mond. 

Massacre  of  the  Geraldines. 

Contest  between  the  Geraldines  and 
the  De  Burghs. 

The  Irish  petition  for  the  extension 
to  them  of  the  English  laws. 

De  Clare  invades  Thomond 

Feuds  between  the  Geraldines  and 
De  Burghs. 

Quarrel  between  De  Vesci  and  the 
Baron  of  Offaly. 

Piers  Gaveston  lord  lieutenant. 

Robert  Bruce  takes  refuge  in  Ire- 
land. 

Battle  of  Bannockburn. 

Edward  Bruce  lands  at  Carrick- 
fergus. 

Rising  of  the  Ulster  Irish  and  the 
discontented  English  of  Meath. 

Bruce's  successes.  Rising  in  Con- 
naught. 


A.D. 

1315  Bruce  is  crowned  at  Dundalk. 

1316  Battle  of  Athenry. 
Arrival  of  Robert  Bruce. 

He  advances  to  Dublin.     Famine. 
He  retires  into  Scotland. 
1318  Battle  of  Dundalk.     Death  of  Ed- 
ward Bruce. 
1320  A  university  at  Dublin  projected  by 

Archbishop  Bicknor. 
1327  Civil  war   between   the   De  Burghs 
and   the    Butlers   and   the  Fitz- 
geralds  of  Desmond. 
Rising  of  the  McMurroughs. 

1329  Unsuccessful   petition   by   the  Irish 

for  recognition  by  English  law. 
Risings    in    Thomond,   Westmeaih, 
and  the  south. 

1330  Maurice  Fitz-Thomas  Fitzgerald  cre- 

ated earl  of  Desmond  and 
granted  the  palatinate  of  Kerry. 

He  renders  assistance  to  the  lords 
justices  against  the  Irish. 

Risings  in  Leinster. 

1331  Arrest  of  Desmond,  De  Bermingham, 

and  Mandeville. 

1333  Murder  of  the  earl  of  Ulster.  Par- 
tition of  his  estates. 

1336  Release  of  the  earl  of  Desmond. 

1339  Risings  in  Munster  subdued  by 
Desmond. 

1341  The   king    proposes   to   resume  the 

estates  of  the  great  land-owners. 

1342  Parliament   summoned    to   meet    at 

Dublin. 
Convention  held  at  Kilkenny. 
Petition  to  the  king,  who  gives  way. 
1344  Sir    Ralph    UfTord    seizes    some   ot 

Desmond's  estates. 
Desmond  surrenders,  and  is  bailed. 
Kildare  is  arrested. 

1348  Kildare  and  Desmond  pardoned. 

1349  The  black  death. 

1361  Lionel,  duke  of  Clarence,  lord  lieu- 
tenant. 
Rising  in  Munster. 

1367  Statute  of  Kilkenny. 

1369  Risings  in  Wicklow  and  Limerick, 

1379  Ordinance  against  absentees. 

1385  Robert  De  Vere,  the  king's  favorite, 
made  marquis  of  Dublin  and 
duke  of  Ireland. 

1387  The  king  comes  of  age. 

1392  Rising  of  Art  McMurrough  in  Lein- 
ster. 

1394  Richard  II.  lands  at  Waterford. 
Submission  of  the  chieftains. 

1395  Richard   at   Dublin.      Reforms   the 

judicial  bench.  Returns  to  Eng- 
land, leaving  the  carl  of  March 
lord  lieutenant. 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY.      305 


A.D. 

1395  Rising     of    McMurrough    and    the 
O'Byrnes  of  Wicklow. 
Defeat    and    death    of    the    earl    of 
March. 

1399  Richard's  second  expedition  to  Ire- 

land. 

1400  Immigration  of  Scots  into  Antiim. 

1401  Risings  in  Wicklow. 

141 3  Fresh  struggles  between  the  English 

and  the  natives. 
1418  Art  McMurrough  captured. 
1421    Risings  in  Lei.\. 
1433  Wars     between     the     O'Xeils     and 

O'Donnels. 

1438  Statutes  against  absentees. 

The  sixth  earl  of  Desmond  marries 
Catharine  McCormac,  and  is  ex- 
pelled from  his  estates  by  his 
uncle. 

1439  Fitzstephen's  moiety  of  the  kingdom 

of  Cork  granted  to  the  ^eventh 
earl  of  Desmond. 

1449  Richard,  duke  of    York,  lord   lieu- 

tenant. 

1450  Risings  in  Westmeath. 

1459  Duke  of  York  takes  refuge  in  Ireland. 
1461   The  eighth  earl  of  Desmond  founds 

the  College  of  Youghal. 
1467  The   earl    of    Desmond    is  charged 

with  treason,  and  executed. 
1472  Institution  of  the  Brotherhood  of  St. 

George. 
1478  Gerald,  eighth  earl  of  Kildare,  lord 

deputy  for  fourteen  years. 

1487  Lambert  Simnel  crowned  in  Dublin. 
Kildare  j>uspected  of  treason. 
Battle  of  Stoke. 

1488  Kildare  is  pardoned. 

1489  Fighting  in  Desmond. 
Fighting  in  Ulster. 

1490  Perkin  Warbeck  arrives  in  Cork. 
1492  Fall  of  Kildare. 

1494  Sir  Edward  Poyning  lord  deputy. 
Crushes  the  adherents  of  Warbeck. 
Parliament  at  Drogheda,  Poyning's 
Act. 

1496  Arrest  of  Kildare. 

He  is  pardoned  and  made  lord  dep- 
uty, and  governs  Ireland  till 
1513.  _ 

1497  Warbeck  agam  m  Ireland. 
Fighting  between  the  natives  and  the 

Burkes  of  Connaught. 
Battle  of  Knockdoe. 
1513  Death  of  Kildare.    His  son  is  elected 

lord  justice  in  his  place. 
1516  Feuds  in  Desmond. 

Feuds  in  the  Ormond  family. 
Feuds  between  Ormond  and  Kildare, 
and  Ormond  and  Desmond. 


A.D. 

I519 
I52I 

1523 
1324 


1526 
1528 

1529 
1530 

1534 
1535 


1536 
1537 


1538 
1539 


1540 


I54I 

1542 
1544 


Kildare  summoned  to  London. 

Risings  in  Leix  and  Offaly. 

Kildare  returns. 

Desmond  holds  a  treasonable  corre- 
spondence with  Francis  I.  of 
France. 

Kildare  lord  deputy.  He  is  ordered 
to  arrest  Desmond,  and  fails  to 
do  so. 

Kildare  again  summoned  to  England, 
and  lodged  in  the  Tower. 

Rising  of  (^'Connor  of  Offaly. 

He  captures  lord  Delvin,  the  lord 
deputy. 

Desmond's  treasonable  correspond- 
ence with  Charles  V. 

His  death. 

Kildare  sent  back  to  suppress  O'Con- 
nor's lining. 

Kildare  made  lord  deputy. 

He  makes  a  treaty  with  O'Connor 
and  O'Carrol. 

He  is  summoned  to  England,  and 
lodged  in  the  Tower. 

His  son,  lord  I'homas,  rebels.  Be- 
sieges Dublin  Castle. 

Skeffington  captures  Maynooth. 

Flight  of  lord  Thomas.  Submission 
of  O'Connor. 

Lord  Thomas  surrenders. 

Lord  Leonard  Gray,  lord  deputy. 

Lord  I'homas  Fitzgerald  and  his  five 
uncles  executed. 

Lord  Leonard  Gray's  campaign  in 
Limerick. 

He  destroys  O'Brien's  Bridge. 

The  supremacy  supported  in  Ireland 
by  Archbishop  Brown,  and  op- 
posed by  Archbishop  Cromer. 

The  proctors  are  expelled  from  Par- 
liament. 

Act  of  Supremacy  (Irish). 

Act  for  Suppression  of  Religious 
Houses  (Irish). 

Destruction  of  relics,  etc. 

Lord  Leonard  Gray's  expedition  into 
Ulster. 

Battle  of  Belahoe. 

His  campaign  in  Munster. 

Commission  for  the   suppression  of 

religious  houses. 
Sir    Anthony  St.   Leger  negotiates 
with  the  chieftains. 

Submission  of  the  Irish  chieftains 
and  Anglo-Irish  lords. 

Distribution  of  Church  lands. 

Title  of  king  of  Ireland  conferred  on 
Henry. 

Submission  of  O'Neil  and  O'Donnel. 

General  peace  in  Ireland. 


^06      CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


A.D. 

1547  Disturbances  in  Leix  and  Offaly. 

1548  O'More  and  O'Connor  sent  to  Eng- 

land as  prisoners. 
Civil  war  between  the  chieftains  and 
the  Tanists  in  Tyrone,  Tyrcon- 
nel,  and  Clanricarde. 

1551  Introduction  of  the  new  liturgy. 
Conference  with   the   clergy  in   St. 

Mary's  Abbey. 
Pillage  of  Clonmacnoise. 

1552  Arrest  of  the  earl  of  Tyrone  (Con 

Mor). 
War  between  the  baron  of  Diingan- 
non  and  Shane  O'Neil. 

1553  Archbishop  Dowdal  recalled. 
Dismissal  of  the  Conforming  bishops-. 
Operations  against  Leix  and  Ofialy. 
Restoration    of    the    young  earl   of 

Kildare. 

1555  Fighting  in   Thomond  for  the  suc- 

cession. 
Continued  immigrations  of  Scots  into 
Antrim. 

1556  Act  in  explanation  of  Poyning's  Act. 

1558  De  ith  of  the  baron  of  Dungannon. 
Reduction   and   Plantation   of    Leix 

and  Offaly. 

1559  Death  of  Con  Mor,  earl  of  Tyrone. 
Shane     O'Nei)     assumes    the     sov- 
ereignty of  Ulster. 

Sir  Henry  Sidney  marches  against 

him. 
NegotiTtions  ensue. 

1560  Act -of  Uniformity  (Irish). 
Continued  strife  in  Thomond. 
Shane   captures   O'Donnel    and   his 

wife. 

1561  Su.ssex  is  defeated  by  Shane. 
Plots  to  secure  his  murder. 
Shane  goes  to  England. 

Death  of  secondbaron  of  Dungannon. 
Elizabeth  and  Shane  come  to  terms. 

1562  Shane  returns  to  Ireland. 

1563  Peace  signed  between  Elizabeth  and 

Shane. 
Shane  mas>acres  the  Scots  of  Antrim. 
Struggle  between  Desmond  and  Or- 

mond. 
Desmond  is  taken  prisoner. 

1566  Renew.il  of  ihe  war  with  Shane. 
Hugh  O'Donnel  joins  the  English. 

1567  Shniie  defented  at  Letterkenny. 
Is  muidered  by  the  McDonrels. 
'I'ur lough    Luinagh    becomes    "the 

O'Neil." 
Sidney   makes   a   progress    through 

Munster  and  Connaught. 
He  arrests  Desmond  and  his  brother. 

Sir  John,   and   the  sons  of  the 

eai  1  of  Clanricarde. 


A  D. 
1568 


5569 


1570 


1571 
1572 

1573 

1574 
1576 

1577 


1579 


1580 


Scheme  for  planting  Desmond. 

Sir  Peter  Carew  claims  estates  in 
Cork  and  Carlow. 

Rising  of  Sir  James  Fitzmaurice 
Fitzgerald;  lord  Clancarty;  and 
Sir  Edmund,  Sir  Piers,  and  Sir 
Edward  Butler  in  Munster. 

Attainder  of  O'Neil,  and  confiscation 
of  his  Ulster  territory. 

Ormond  detaches  his  brothers  from 
the  Munster  insurgents. 

Sir  Edward  Fitton  President  of  Con- 
naught. 

Rising  of  the  Burkes. 

Sir  James  Fitzmaurice  captures  Kil- 
mallock. 

Ormond  reduces  Munster. 

Sir  Thomas  Smith  endeavors  to  make 
a  plantation  in  Down. 

Sir  John  Perrot  hunts  Fitzmaurice 
into  the  vale  of  Aberlow. 

Clanricarde  is  liberated  and  Con- 
naught  pacified. 

Surrender  of  Sir  James  Fitzmaurice. 

Walter  Devereux,  earl  of  Essex,  ob- 
tains a  grant  of  territory  in  Ul- 
ster, and  endeavors  to  make  a 
plantation. 

Massacre  of  Rathlln  Island. 

Escape  of  the  earl  of  Desmond  from 
Dublin. 

Deith  of  Essex. 

Sir  William  Drury  President  of  Mun- 
ster. 

Sir  Nicholas  Malley  President  of  Con- 
naught. 

Sidney  levies  illegal  taxes  on  the 
Pale 

Remonstrance  of  the  loyal  English. 

Rory  O'More,  the  outlaw,  in  Leix 
and  Kild.ire. 

Massacre  of  Mullaghmast. 

Sir  James  Fitzmaurice  lands  at  Smer- 
wick. 

Rising  of  the  southern  Geraldines. 

Death  of  Sir  James  Fitzmaurice. 

Successes  of  the  rebels. 

Death  of  Sir  William  Drury. 

Desmond  joins  the  rebels. 

Youghal  is  burned. 

Campaign  of  Ormond  and  Sir  Wil- 
liam Pelham  in  Munster. 

Risings  in  Wicklow. 

Lord  Grey  de  Wilton  defeated  at 
Glenm  dure. 

The  Spaniards  land  at  Smerwick. 

lx)rd  Grey's  campaign  in  Munster. 

Massacre  of  the  Spaniards. 

Risings  m  the  Pale. 

Executions  in  Dublin. 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY.       3O7 


AD. 

1581  Death  of  Dr.  Saunders,  the  Pope's 

legate. 

1582  Death  of  Sir  John  and  Sir  James  of 

Desmond. 
Suppression  of  the  Munster  rebellion. 

1583  Death  of  Desmond. 

1586  Attainder  of  the  Munster  rebels,  and 
confiscation  of  their  estates. 
Plantation  of  Munster. 
Seizure  of  Red  Hugh. 

1588  Arrest  of  Sir  John  O'Dogherty  and 

Sir  Owen  McToole 

1589  Confiscation  of  Monaghan. 

1591  Tyrone  marries  Bagnal's  sister. 

1592  Escape  of  Red  Hugh. 

1595  Confederation    of    the   Ulster   chief- 
tains. 
Death   of  Turlough  Luinagh.     Ty- 
rone   assumes   the   title   of    the 
ONeil. 

1597  Fighting  on  the  Blackwater. 
Anarchy  in  Connaught. 
Death  of  lord  Burgh. 

1598  Blockade  of  the  Blackwater  fort. 
Battle  of  the  Yellow  Ford. 
General  rising.     The  Sugan  earl  in 

Munster. 

1599  Lord    Essex    arrives    with    a    large 

army. 
His  campaign  in  Munster. 
Concludes  a  truce  with  Tyrone. 
Is  recalled. 

1600  Mountjoy  lord  deputy.     He  reforms 

the  army. 

Sir  George  Carew  President  of  Mun- 
ster. 

Sir  Henry  Docra  occupies  Derry. 

1601  Capture  of  the  Sugan  earl. 
Arrival  of  the  Spaniards  at  Kinsale. 
Battle  of  Kinsale. 

1602  Flight  of  O'Donnel. 
Carew  reduces  Munster. 

Famine  brought  on  by  the  wholesale 
destruction  of  the  crops. 

1603  Tyrone  surrenders. 
Death  of  Elizabeth. 

1603  The  Catholic  clergy  ordered  to  leave 

Ireland. 
1605  Abolition  of  the  laws  of  Tanistry  and 

gavelkind. 

1607  Flight  of  Tyrone  and  Tyrconnel. 

1608  Rising  of  Sir  Cahir  O'Dogherty. 
Confiscation  of  six  counties  m  Ulster. 

1*110  Abolition  of  the  Brehon  law. 

1611  Persecution  of  Roman  Catholics. 
.The  plantation  of  Ulster. 
Creation  of  the  order  of  baronets. 

1612  The  plantation  of  Wexford 

1613  Parliament  summoned.     Creation  of 

boroughs. 


A.D. 

1614  Attainder  of  Tyrone  and  the  Ulster 
chieftains. 
Repeal  of  the  old  statutes  against  the 
Irish. 
1619  Plantation    of    Longford    and    Ely 
O'Carroll. 
Plantation  of  VVestmeath. 
1622  Plantation  of  Leitrim,  and  parts  of 

King's  and  Queen's  counties. 
1624  Transplantation  of  native    septs  to 
Kerry. 
Confiscations  in  VVicklow. 
Projected  planting  of  Connaught. 
1626  Composition  made  by  the  Connaught 
land-owners. 
"  The  Graces  "  promised. 
1632-1636  Compilation  of  the  "  Annals  of 
Ireland"  by  the  Pour  Masters. 

1633  Wentworth  is  appointed  lord  deputy. 

1634  Wentworth  dragoons  the  Irish  Par- 

liament. 

1635  Commission  of  "  defective  titles  "  in 

Connaught 
Sentence  on  lord  Mountnorris. 

1636  Introduction  of  the  linen  manufacture. 

1640  Wentworth  created  earl  of  Strafford 

and  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland. 
Augmentation  of  the  Irish  army. 

1641  Ormond  and  Antrim  plot  to  seize  the 

Irish  government  in  support  of 

Charles. 
Rory    O'More's    plot    to    seize    the 

Castle. 
Rising  and  massacres  in  Ulster. 
The     Roman    Catholic    Anglo-Irish 

join  the  rebels. 
Siege  of  Drogheda. 

1642  Risings  in  Connaught  and  Munstei. 
Arrival  of  Colonel  Owen  O'Neil  and 

Colonel  Preston. 
Synod  at  Kells. 
Battle  of  Kilrush. 
Confederation  of  Kilkenny. 

1643  Battle  of  Ross. 
Ormond  made  a  marquis. 
Cessation  agreed  upon  between  Or- 
mond and  the  rebels. 

The  war  continued  on  behalf  of  the 
Parliament  by  the  Scots  in  Ul- 
ster, by  Broghill  and  Inchiquin 
in  the  south,  and  by  Sir  Charles 
Coote  in  Sligo. 

1644  Ormond  lord  lieutenant. 
Negotiations  with  the  rebels. 

1645  Glamorgan  despatched  by  Charles  to 

make  terms  with  the  rebels. 

Arrival  ofRinucini,  the  Pope's  legate. 

Glamorgan  concludes  a  secret  treaty. 

Its  discovery.  Glamorgan  is  ar- 
rested. 


308      CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


A.D. 
1646 


1647 


1648 


1649 
1649 


1650 

1651 
1652 

1653 

1654 
1656 
1660 

1660 


1662 
1663 

1665 
1670 
1671 

Z678 


He  is  liberated. 

Divisions  among  the  Confederates. 

A  treaty  signed  between  Ormond 
and  the  Confederates. 

Battle  of  Benburb. 

Rinucini  and  Owen  Roe  seize  the 
government  at  Kilkenny. 

Ormond  surrenders  Dublin  to  the 
Parliament. 

Battle  of  Dungan  Hill. 

Inchiquin  takes  Cashel. 

Battle  of  Knocknanoss. 

Inchiquin  deserts  to  the  Confeder- 
ates. 

Rinucini  takes  refuge  with  Owen 
Roe's  army. 

Strife  among  the  Confederates. 

Return  of  Ormond. 

Rupert  and  his  fleet  arrive  at  Kin- 
sale. 

Peace  published  between  the  king 
and  the  Confederates. 

Prince  Charles  proclaimed  at  Cork. 

Flight  of  Rinucini. 

Ormond  besieges  Dublin. 

Battle  of  Rathmines. 

Arrival  of  Cromwell. 

Capture  of  Drogheda. 

Capture  of  Wexford.  ^ 

Death  of  Owen  Roe.   - 

Campaign  in  the  south. 

Revolt  of  the  southern  garrisons  to 
Parliament. 

Capture  of  Kilkenny  and  Clonmel. 

Cromwell  returns  to  England. 

Surrender  of  Waterford. 

Flight  of  Ormond  and  Inchiquin. 

Capture  of  Ath'one. 

Capture  of  Limerick. 

Death  of  Ireton. 

Surrender  of  Galway, 

Survey  of  Ireland. 

Banishment  of  the  Irish  soldiery. 

Transplantation  of  the  Irish  beyond 
the  Shannon. 

The  plantation  of  Ireland  continues. 

Henry  Cromwell  lord  lieutenant. 

Coote  and  Broghill  seize  the  com- 
missioners in  Dublin  Casile. 

Re-establishment  of  the  Church. 

The  king's  declaration  for  the  settle- 
ment of  Ireland. 

Act  of  Settlement. 

Court  of  Claims  op)ens  in  Dublin. 

Blood's  Plot. 

^ct  of  Explanation. 

Toleration  of  Roman  Catholics. 

Petition  to  review  the  Act  of  Settle- 
ment. 

The  Popish  plot. 


A.D. 

1678 
1679 
1685 


1687 

1688 
1689 


1690 


1691 


1692 


1696 

1698 

1699 
1701 
1704 
1706 
1708 
1710 


Arrest  of  Archbishop  Talbot. 

Arrest  of  Archbishop  Plunket. 

Richard  Talbot  made  Lieutenant- 
General. 

Reconstruction  of  the  army. 

Reconstruction  of  the  corporations. 

Tyrconnel  lord  lieutenant. 

Persecution  of  Trinity  College,  Dub- 
lin. 

Flight  of  Protestants  to  England. 

Closing  of  the  gates  of  Derry  and 
Enniskillen. 

Tyrconnel  raises  regiments  for 
James. 

William  proclaimed  at  Derry. 

Siege  of  Derry  and  Enniskillen, 

James  lands  at  Cork. 

Holds  a  Parliament  at  Dublin. 

Siege  of  Derry  raised. 

Battle  of  Newtown  Butler. 

Arrival  of  Schomberg. 

He  is  besieged  at  Dundalk. 

Charlemont  captured 

William  lands  at  Carrickfergus. 

Battle  of  the  Boyne, 

Flight  of  James. 

Abortive  siege  of  Limerick. 

William  returns  to  England. 

Capture  of  Cork  and  Kinsale  by 
Marlborough. 

Capture  of  Athlone. 

I'attle  of  Aughrim. 

Surrender  of  Galway. 

Second  siege  of  Limerick. 

Articles  of  Limerick. 

Emigration  of  Irish  Roman  Catho- 
lics. 

Exclusion  of  Roman  Catholics  from 
Parliament. 

The  House  of  Commons  resist  the 
initiation  of  Money  Bills  by  the 
Privy  Council. 

Act  for  disarming  the  Roman  Cath- 
olics. 

Penal  act  against  foreign  education. 

Molyneux's  book  on  the  independ- 
ence of  the  Irish  Parliament. 

Penal  act  against  mixed  marriages. 

Irish  act  laying  prohibitive  tariff  on 
the  export  of  wool. 

Act  disqualifying  Roman  Catholic 
solicitors 

Penal  act  against  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics. 

Increase  of  Jacobitism.  Domination 
of  the  High  Church  party. 

Further  act  against  Roman  Catho- 
lic solicitors. 

Penal  act  against  the  Roman  Cath- 
olics. 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY.       309 


A.D. 

1711  Agrarian  disturbances.     Ever  Joyce. 
The  Houghers. 
Persecution  of  the  Presbyterians. 
Sir  Constantine  Phipps  leader  of  the 
Jacobites. 
1719  Conflict    between    the  English   and 
Irish  Houses  of  Lords. 
Toleration  Act. 

1723  Wood's  patent  granted. 

1724  The  Drapier's  letters. 
Prosecution  of  Swift's  printer. 

1725  The  patent  cancelled. 
Potato  famine. 

1726  Archbishop  Boulter  lord  justice. 

1727  Act  disfranchising  the  Roman  Cath- 

olics. 
Tillage  Act. 
1734  Further  stringent  Act  against  Roman 

Catholic  solicitors. 
1740  The  Kellymount  gang  outrages. 
1742  Death  of  Archbishop  Boulter. 
1744  Lord  Chesterfield  lord  lieutenant. 
1747  Death  of  Archbishop  Hoadly. 
1749  Lucas  stands  for  Dublin. 

Threatened  with  prosecution,  he  flies 

to  England. 
Rivalry  between  Primate  Stone  and 

Speaker  Boyle. 
Contest  in  Parliament  about  the  ap- 
propriation of  surpluses. 
1753  Prosecution  of  Nevill. 

Petition  of  the  earl  of  Kildare. 
Death  of  Morty  Oge  O'SuUivan,  the 
smuggler. 
1755  Fall  of  Primate  Stone. 
1757  Formation   of  the    Roman   Catholic 
Committee. 

1759  Riots  in   Dublin  on   the  rumor  of  a 

contemplated  union. 

1760  Thurot's  descent  on  Carrickfergus. 

His  defeat  and  death. 

1761  Insurrection  of  the  Whiteboys. 

1762  Insurrection  of  the  Oakboys. 

1763  Attacks  on  the  pension  list 

1764  Roman  Catholic  Relief  Bill  thrown 

out. 

1765  Act  to  Regulate  the  Law  of  Highways. 

1766  Execution    of    Father    Sheehy    for 

Whiieboyism. 

1767  Lord  Townshend  lord  lieutenant. 
Octennial  Act. 

1768  Rising  of  the  Steelboys. 

1769  Contest  about  the  Money  Bills.   Aug- 

mentation Bill  passed. 

1771  Extensive    emigration    to    America 

from  Leister. 
Contest  about  the  Money  Bills. 

1772  Resignation  of  Townshend. 

1773  The  Irish   national  debt  amounts  to 

;{J  1 ,000,000. 


A.D. 
1775 


1776 
1778 

1779 

1781 

1782 


1783 

1784 
1785 

1786 
1787 


1788 
1789 

1791 


1792 


1793 


1794 


Continuation  of  the  Whiteboy  out- 
rages. 

Irish  troops  are  sent  to  America. 

Increase  of  the  debt  and  of  the  pen- 
sion list. 

Flood  is  made  a  vice-treasurer. 

The  embargo. 

First  Roman  Catholic  Relief  Bill 
passed. 

Agitation  in  favor  of  freedom  of  trade. 

Formation  of  the  Volunteers. 

Agitation  for  legislative  independ- 
ence. 

The  Perpetual  Mutiny  Bill  passed. 

Further  Roman  Catholic  Relief  Act. 

Meeting  of  the  Volunteers  at  Dun- 
gannon. 

Amendment  of  Poyning's  Act. 

Habeas  Corpus  Act. 

Agitation  for  parliamentary  reform. 

The  Volunteer  National  Convention. 

Rejection  of  Flood's  Reform  Bill. 

Rise  of  the  Peep-o'-day  Boys  and 
Defenders. 

Orde's  commercial  resolutions. 

Orde's  Bill  abandoned. 

Agitation  for  reform. 

Rightboy  disturbances. 

Dublin  Police  Act  passed. 

Growth  of  the  Rightboy  disturb- 
ances. 

Debates  on  the  tithe  question. 

Increase  of  Defenderism. 

The  Regency  question  in  the  Irish 
Parliament. 

Agitation  for  Roman  Catholic  Eman- 
cipation. 

Formation  of  the  Society  of  the 
United  Irishmen. 

Roman  Catholic  Relief  Act. 

Accidental  burning  of  the  House  of 
Commons. 

Meeting  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Con- 
vention. 

Petition  of  the  Roman  Catholics  pre- 
sented to  the  king. 

Increase  of  Defenderism. 

Further  Roman  Catholic  Relief  Act. 

Convention  Act. 

Gunpowder  Act. 

Ponsonby's  motion  on  reform  re- 
jected. 

Activity  of  the  United  Irishmen. 

Secret  committee  of  the  House  of 
Lords  to  inquire  into  the  dis- 
turbed state  of  the  country. 

Flight  of  Napper  Tandy 

Prosecution  of  Hamilton  Rowan  and 
irr.prisonment  of  Simon  Butler 
and  Oliver  Bond. 


310      CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


A.D. 

1794  Arrest  of  Jackson. 

Suppression  of  the  United  Irishmen. 
The  society  is  reconstructed  as  a  se- 
cret association. 

1795  Arrival  of  Lord  Fitzwilliam  as  Vice- 

roy. 

Grattan's  bill  for  complete  emanci- 
pation of  the  Roman  Catholics. 

Recall  of  Lord  Fitzwilliam. 

Trial  and  death  of  Jackson. 

Rejection  of  Grattan's  Bill. 

Tone  goes  to  America. 

Battle  of  the  Diamond. 

Formation  of  Orange  lodges. 

1796  The  Insurrection  Act. 

Extension  of  the  United  Irishmen  to 

Leinster. 
French  expedition  to  Bantry. 

1797  Arthur  O'Connor    is   arrested,   and 

released  on  bail. 
Martial  law  in  Ulster. 
Grattan's  Reform  Bill  rejected 
Secession  of  the  opposition. 
Increase  of  the  United  Irishmen. 
Execution  of  Orr. 
Grattan  retires  from  public  life. 

1798  Sir    Ralph     Abercrombie     succeeds 

Lord  Carhampton  as  command- 
er-in-chief in  Ireland. 
He  resigns  his  command. 
Martial  law  in  leinster. 
Mar.  II.  Arrest    of    the    executive 
committee  of  the  United 
Irishmen       at       Oliver 
Bond's. 
May  19.  Arrest     of     lord    Edward 
Fitzgerald. 
"      23.  Risings  round  Dublin  and 
in  Kildare  and  Carlow. 

25.  Risings  in  Wicklow. 
27.  Risings  in  Wexford. 

June    4.  Battle  of  New  Ross. 
"        7.  Risings  in  Down  and  An- 
trim. 
"       9.  Battle  of  Arklow. 

21.  Capture  of  Vinegar  Hill. 

22.  The  French  ai  Killala. 

26.  Battle  of  Castlebar. 
8.   Battle  of  Ballinamuck. 

10.  French  expedition  to  Lough 
Swilly.  Capture      of 

Tone. 
Proposal  of  the  Union. 

1799  Opposition  to  the  Union. 
Defeat  of  the  government. 

1800  The  Act  of  Union. 

1803  Robert  Emmet's   revolt   and  execu- 
tion. 


Aug. 

Sept. 
Oct. 


the  agitation   for 
"  Nation  "   news- 


A.D. 

1808  Daniel    O'Connell    first  comes  into 
notice. 

1822  Famine  in  Ireland. 

1823  Agitation  for  Catholic  Emancipation. 
1825  Suppression  of  the  Catholic  Associa- 
tion. 

1829  Catholic  Emancipation  won. 

O'Connell  takes  his  seat  for  Clare. 
1838  Tithes  imposed  upon  landlords. 

Father    Mathew's     temperance     re- 
vival. 
O'Connell   begins 
Repeal. 

1842  Founding  of    the 

paper. 
Rise  of  the  Young  Ireland  Party. 

1843  Suppression  of  the  proposed  meeting 

at  Clontarf. 
1845  Beginning  of  the  three   years'  fam- 
ine. 

1847  Increased  emigration  of  the  Irish. 

1848  Capture  of  Young  Ireland  leaders. 
1858  Rise  of  the  Fenians. 

1866  The  Fenians  undertake  active  opera- 

tions. 

1867  Rescue  of  Fenians  at  Manchester. 
The  Clerkenwell  explosion. 

1868  Mr.  Gladstone  the   first  time  Prime 

Minister. 
i86g  Disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church. 

1870  Mr.  Gladstone's  first  land  bill. 

1871  Formation     of     the     Home     Rule 

League. 

1873  Bill  for  Irish  University   Education 

defeated. 

1874  Fifty-one    Home    Rulers   in   Parlia- 

ment. 

1875  Charles  Stewart  Parnell  enters  Par- 

liament. 

1879  Mr.  Parnell  becomes  the  Home  Rule 

leader. 
Michael    Davitt     founds    the    Land 
League. 

1880  Mr.  Gladstone  a  second  time  Prime 

Minister. 

1881  Mr.  Gladstone's  second  land  bill. 

1882  M.irder  of    lord    Frederick   Caven- 

dish    and     Thomas     Burke    in 
Phoenix  Park. 

1884  The  third  reform  bill  passed. 

1885  The  Tories  come  into  power. 
Dynamite  explosions  in  London. 

1886  Mr.   Gladstone  a  third   time   Prime 

Minister. 
Mr.  Gladstone   proposes   his   Home 

Rule  bill,  which  is  defeated. 
Parliamentary  election. 
Return  of  the  Tories  to  power. 


INDEX. 


AbERCROMBIE,  Sir  Ralph,  246. 

Absentees,  216,  223,  225. 

Adventurers,  the,  187. 

Adrian  the  Fourth,  bull  cf,  50. 

Agrarian  outrages,  150. 

Arch-king,  the,  7. 

Argyll,  duke  of,  298. 

Arklow,  battle  of,  250. 

Association,   the   Catholic,   263 ;   the 

Repeal,  268. 
Athlone,  capture  of,  114 
Aughrim,  siege  of,  203. 

BaLTINGLASS,  lord,  131. 
Bannockburn,  battle  of,  80. 
Bards,  Irish,  i,  12,  45,  94,  160. 
Barry,  James,  227. 
Berkley,  bishop,  226,  227. 
Berwick,  duke  of,  198. 
Bishops,  the,  22,  99. 
Books,  religious,  158. 
Boulter,  archbishop,  227. 
Boyne,  battle  of  the,  201. 
Brehons,  the,  12,  94. 
Brian,  king,  39. 
Bristol,  earl  of,  236,  240. 
Brooke,  226. 
Browne,  provost,  226. 
Bruce,  Edward,  81. 
Bruce,  Robert,  81. 
Burke,  Edmund,  226. 
Burke,  Thomas,  292. 
Butlers,  the,  "j"]. 
Butt,  Isaac,  285. 


UaMDEN,  lord,  246,  253. 
Carew,  Sir  Peter,  128. 
Carey,  James,  293. 
Carolan,  228. 


Castlereagh,  lord,  251,  255. 
Cavendish,  lord  Frederick,  292. 
Celts,  the,  4. 

Chamberlain,  Joseph,  29S. 
Charlemont,  earl  of,  236,  240. 
Charles  the  First,  king  of   England, 

161. 
Charles  the  Second,  king  of  England, 

180,  190. 
Charter  schools,  222,  232. 
Christianity  in  Ireland,  22. 
Church,   the  Irish,    58,    91,   115,   118, 

195. 
Church,  the  Protestant,  165,  192,  257, 

258,  281. 
Clare,  lord,  242,  253,  255. 
Clarence,  the  duke  of,  84. 
Classes,  the  Irish,  153. 
Clerkenwell  explosion,  278, 
Clontarf,   battle   of,  41  ;   meeting  at, 

269. 
Coercion  laws,  272,  289,  292. 
Colonists  in  Ireland,  153. 
Colonization  of  Ireland,  127,  135. 
Columkill,  26. 

Commerce,  Irish,  44;  decline  of,  186. 
Connaught,    planting    of,     151,    165; 

Irish  expelled  to,  184. 
Cornwallis,  marquis,  253,  255 
Counties,  division  into,  70. 
Cowper,  earl,  292. 

Cromwell,    Oliver,     180-189;     settle- 
ment of  Ireland  by,  186  193. 
Curran,  John  Philpott,  243,  260. 

Danes,   the,   invade   Ireland,  35; 

religic  n  of,  37  ;  defeat  of,  41. 
Davis,  Thomas,  273. 
Davitt,  Michael,  288. 
De  Courcy,  John,  67. 


31J 


312 


INDEX. 


De  Lacy,  Hugh,  70. 
Dermid  of  Leinster,  50. 
Desmond,  earls  of,  84,  104,  130. 
Dillon,  John,  290. 
Dillon,  John  Blake,  273. 
Donald  the  Second,  32. 
Donogh  the  First,  34. 
Drogheda,  carnage  at,  181. 
Druids,  the,  11,  19. 
Dublin,  229;  surrender  of,  179. 
Dublin  Philosophical  Society,  226. 
Dublin  Society,  227. 

Education,  Irish,  283. 

Edward  the  First,  law  of,  80. 
Edward  the  Second,  king  of  England, 

80. 
Edward  the  Third,  king  of  England, 

83. 
Elections  of  chiefs,  29. 
Elizabeth,  queen  of  England,  120. 
Emancipation,  Catholic,  263,  264. 
Emigration  of  the  Irish,  220,  272. 
Emmet,  Thomas  Addis,  243,  247. 
Emmet,  Robert,  260. 
Essex,  Robert  Devereux,  earl  of,  142. 
Essex,  Walter  Devereux,  earl  of,  127. 
Execution  of  Irish  chiefs,  183. 
Exports,  Irish,  271. 

Falkland,  lord,  162. 

Famine,  223,  270. 

Farmers,  Irish,  93. 

Fenians,  the,  276. 

Feudal  system,  introduced  into  Ire- 
land, 57. 

Firbolgs,  the,  2. 

Fitzgerald,  James  Fitzmaurice,  128. 

Fitzgerald,  lord  Edward,  243,  247, 
248. 

Fitzgerald,  Margaret,  97. 

Fitz  James,  tlie  prior,  198. 

Fitzwilliam,  lord,  242. 

Fitzwilliam,  Sir  William,  137. 

Flood,  Henry,  233,  240. 

Formosians,  the,  2. 

Forster,  William  E.,  292. 

Fusion  of  races,  190. 

GaLWAY,  fallof,  183. 
Garrick,  in  Dublin,  229. 
Gavelkind,  9. 


Geraldines,  the,  "]"],  113. 

Gladstone,  William  Ewart,  280-302. 

Goldsmith,  Oliver,  226, 

Goschen,  G.  J.,  298. 

Graces,  the,  162. 

Grattan,  Henry,  233,  237,    239,    257, 

261. 
Gray,  lord  Leonard,  113. 
Grey  of  Wilton,  lord,  131. 

Handel,  229. 

Hartington,  lord,  298. 

Heart-of-steel  Boys,  the,  218. 

Henry  the  Second,  50. 

Henry  the  Fourth,  89. 

Henry  the  Seventh,  102. 

Henry  the  Eighth,'  iii. 

Highways,  45. 

Home  Rule  league,  the,  285  ;  bill,  the, 

298. 
Hugh  the  Second,  31. 
Hugh  the  Fifth,  34. 
Hutcheson,  226. 

Industries,  crippled,  213. 

Intermarriages,  79. 

Invincibles,  tlie,  293. 

lona,  settlement  of,  26. 

Ireland,  invasion  of,  by  Britons,  33 ; 
invasion  of,  by  Danes,  35  ;  colo- 
nization of,  127 ;  plantation  of, 
144-152;  conquest  of,  by  Crom- 
well, 182;  settlement  of,  by 
Cromwell,  186-193. 

Ireton,  Henry,  182. 

Irish,  the  ancient,  9. 

Ironsides,  in  Ireland,  181,  187. 

James  the  First,  145. 
James  the  Second,  195. 
John,  king  of  England,  6g. 
Jones,  John  Paul,  236. 

KiLDA  RE, Gerald,  earl  of,  102,  loS  ; 
Gerald  the  Second,  112;  Thomas 
of,  112. 

Kilkenny,  parliament  of,  85  ;  conven- 
tion of,  177. 

King,  archbishop,  226. 

Kings,  early  Irish,  28 ;  rights  of.  30. 

Kinsale,  fall  of,  145. 

Knockdoc,  battle  of,  109. 


INDEX. 


313 


Lake,  general,  247. 

Land,  the  Irish,  59,  92,  134,  147,  166, 

1S6,  192,  210,  282,  286,  290. 
Land  court,  established,  191. 
Land  league,  the,  288. 
Land-purchase  bill,  the,  299, 
Law  courts,  58. 

Laws,  Irish,  10,  29,  44,  "jt,^  85,  90. 
Lawyers,  Irish,  211. 
League  of  the  chiefs,  140. 
Learning  in  Ireland,  47,  96. 
Legends,  Irish,  i. 
Leinster,  confiscations  in,  150. 
Leinster,  duke  of,  236. 
Limerick,  treaty  of,  203. 
Londonderry,  siege  of,  199. 
Lucas,  Charles,  233. 

Madden,  227. 

Manchester,  rescue  at,  278. 
Martin,  John,  273. 
Mary  the  First,  118. 
Mary  the  Second,  196. 
Mathew,  Father,  268. 
McCarthys,  the,  28. 
McMurrough  of  Leinster,  ^ly. 
Meagher,  Thomas  Francis,  273. 
Mitchel,  John,  273. 
Molesworth,  227. 
Monasteries,  25,  95,  114. 
Mortimer,  Roger^  07. 
Mountjoy,  lord,  144. 
Munster,  planting  of,  128. 
M  irphy.  Father,  249. 

"Nation,"  the,  274. 

National  league,  the,  295. 
Nemedhians,  the,  2. 
Normans,  the,  invade  Ireland,  49  ;  vic- 
tory of,  56. 

OaKBOYS,  the,  217. 
Gates,  Titus,  plot  of,  194. 
O'Brien,  Smith,  273. 
O'Brien,  William,  290. 
O'Briens,  the,  28. 
O'Connell,  Daniel,  262. 
O'Connor,  Arthur,  243. 
O'Connor,  Cathal,  jt,. 
O'Connor,  Conor,  66. 
O'Connor,  Roderick,  50,  64. 
O'Connors,  the,  28. 


O'Doherty,  Kevin  I.,  274. 

O'Donnel,  the  chief,  136. 

O'Donnel,  Red  Hugh,  136,  138. 

O'Kelly,  Mr.,  290. 

O'More,  Rory,  171. 

O'Neil,  Donald,  80. 

O'Neil,  Hugh,  earl  of  Tyrone,  138- 

147. 
O'Neil,  Phelim,  171,  183. 
O'Neil,  Red  Owen,  176. 
O'Neil,  Shane,  121-125. 
O'Neils,  the,  28,  43. 
Orange,  William  of,  king  of  England, 

iq6,  201. 
O'Reilly,  the  chief,  174. 
Ormond,  earl  of,  175,  178. 

Pale,  the  English,  83,  116,  176. 
Parliament,  the  Irish,  105,  164,   198, 

205. 
Parnell,  Charles  Stewart,  287. 
Parnell,  Sir  Henry,  262. 
Parnell,  Sir  John,  256. 
Parnell,  the  poet,  226. 
Parties,  three  Irish,  180. 
Patrick,  Saint,  14-21. 
Patriot  party,  the,  219. 
Penal  laws,  the,  208-214. 
Pensions,  232. 
Perrot,  lord-deputy,  136. 
Physico-Historical  Society,  the,  227. 
Plantation  of  Ireland,  144-152. 
Poyning,   Sir   Edward,    106 ;   act   of, 

107,  198,  231. 
Priests,  proscribed,  189. 
Prior,  227. 
Provinces,  ancient  Irish,  12. 

QuEEN'S  colleges,  the,  284,  285. 

Rebellion,  of  Shane  o'Neii, 

121— 125  ;   of  Hugh  O'Neil,  139- 
143;  the  ten  years',  169-177. 

Religion  in  Ireland,  46. 

Rent,  arrears  of,  292. 

Rent,  the  Catholic,  263. 

Revival,  temperance,  268. 

Revolution,  the  English,  196. 

Richard  the  First,  71. 

Richard  the  Second,  85. 

Robin  Hoods,  the,  135. 
I  Roche,  Father  Pliilip,  249. 


314 


INDEX. 


Roses,  wars  of  the,  89. 
Rowan,  Hamilton,  241. 

St.  NICHOLAS,  college  of,  159. 

Saint  Ruth,  general,  203. 

Saints,  Irish,  25. 

Salisbury,  marquis  of,  297,  301. 

Sarsfield,  general,  202 

Schomberg,  general,  199. 

Schools,   ancient    Irish,    23 ;   charter, 

222,  232  ;  elementary,  268. 
Selborne,  lord,  298. 
Septs,  the,  8. 
Sexton,  Mr.,  290. 
Shaw,  Mr.,  2S6. 
Sheehy,  Father,  289. 
Sheridan,  Richard  Brinsley,  226. 
Shiel,  Richard  Lalor,  262. 
Ship-building,  suppressed,  214. 
Sidney,  Sir  Henry,  124,  128. 
Simnel,  Lambert,  103. 
Skelton,  226. 
Slavery  in  Ireland,  44. 
Smuggling,  220. 
Somerset,  the  protector,  118. 
Spencer,  earl,  292. 
Stevens,  James,  276. 
Sterne,  Lawrence,  226, 
Strongbow,  52,  62. 
Suffrage,  household,  296. 
Swift,  Jonathan,  218,  219,  226,  232. 
Synge,  227. 


Tandy,  james,  241. 

Tithes,  222,  267. 
Tone,  Wolfe,  241,  244,  245,  252. 
Tories,  the  Irish,  185,  188,  196. 
Trinity  College,  157,  284. 
Truce,  the  three  years',  178. 
Tuatha  de  Danans,  2. 
'J '.urges,  38. 

Tyrconnel,  O'Donnel,  earl  of,  124; 
Richard  Talbot,  earl  of,  195. 

Ulster,  tenant  right,  149;  war  in, 

United  Irishmen,  the,  240,  247. 
Union,  act  of,  258. 

Vinegar  hiii,  battle  of,  250. 

Volunteers,  the  Irish,  236. 

WaRBECK,  Perkin,  104. 
Wellington,  duke  of,  264. 
Wentworth,  Sir  Thomas,  earl  of  Straf- 
ford, 163-168. 
Wexford,  massacre  at,  182. 
Whiteboys,  the,  217,  261. 
Windsor,  treaty  of,  65. 
Wood,  William,  patent  of,  218. 
Workhouses,  224. 
Writers,  Irish,  c,6,  159. 

Young  Ireland  party,  the,  273. 


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Librarian  who  will  be  glad  to  help  you. 

The  borrower  is  responsible  for  books  drawn 
on  his  card  and  for  all  fines  accruing  on  the 
fame. 


ii!i|ii!ill!|li!!i!!il!iii!|; 


m 


! 


i 


